December Dreaming - 5 Ways Looking Back Can Help You Look Forward

Not only is 2019 coming to a close, but so we find ourselves at the end of another decade. It’s a time to reflect on what we have achieved and consider where we want to head in the next ten years. With this in mind, My #Gr8Blogs writerly pals and I are diving deep into a special year-end blog hop, December Dreamin.’
Was 2019 a crazy roller coaster ride for you? Smooth sailing? Full of milestone events? It’s been a huge year for me creatively, I have learnt so much.

Join me as ’I remember the happy moments as well as lessons learned from challenges this past year in “My Ups, Downs, and In Betweens on the 2019 Writing Road.” Check out my personal reveals, then visit the other #Gr8Blogs linked at the end of the post for more shared recollections. We hope you'll be inspired to dive into special December Dreams of your own!

It has been an incredible year for me, I have had much writing success and travelled quite a bit due to John’s work. Along the road there have also been disappointments that natural come with submitting work to competitions and publishers. Rejections are a normal part of this writing life. We have to accept them, and move on. I like to focus on the positive aspects of life, so together let’s take a look at what I have learned this year.

Be Brave

I don’t know about you, it’s amazing how many times I ask myself, am I good enough? It doesn’t matter how far down this writing road I come, I still question whether my writing is worthy, will kids want to read my stories? That impostor syndrome seems to like to stay tucked nice and comfy in my mind.

This year was my year to be brave and send my writing out to more possibilities. By being brave to submit my work to competitions and enter a writing proposal, I had successes that I never thought possible before.

The competition was to write a scary story suitable for readers aged 8-12 years, but not too spooky that it would frighten them. I had written a spooky story once before and had it published in an adult anthology, could I write a story to fit these guideline? I had the spark of an idea, it was a combination of something my Dad used to say to us when we went on holidays and a memory of an experience I had in Scotland back in 2010. Put the two thoughts together and I arrived with my story, ‘The Dead Centre of Town.’ Once written I was brave enough to hit the send button and submit it to ‘Share Your Story.’ A couple of months later, I heard the good news, I had won a place in the Share Your Story Spooktacular Stories - Thrilling Tales for Brave Kids.

Around the same time I found the request from Library For All for proposals to write a story for their new ‘Disaster’ series. They were looking for stories to be made into graphic novels for young and struggling readers in remote and rural regions of Papua New Guinea. The topics included, cyclones, bushfires, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The story had to be fiction but also had to include ways to teach how to survive these disasters in this region along with characters that were relateable to the indigenous reader. As I was travelling back and forth to PNG, I did my research and came up with an idea. My proposal was accepted, then the difficult task of completing the story in 1,500 words began. My initial story was completed at 2,000 words, a little longer than it should have been. I was asked to reduce it to 1,200, which I found quite difficult. It takes bravery to cut your words to fit a story under specific guidelines into such a tight word limit. However, I was brave enough to make the cuts, the story is better for it and ‘Cyclone Kayla’ will be released in PNG and Australia sometime soon when the graphic illustrations are completed, (not by me).

It is being brave enough to put my work out there, that I now have four self-published books, two traditionally published books and six stories in four anthologies. That’s a lot of stories being read by kids around Australia and overseas. With a bit of luck, there’s still plenty more to come.

I have entered other competitions this year without success, but that’s okay, I am still learning and still trying.

My takeaway from this - If you aren’t brave and willing to give something a go, you will never know the wonderful opportunities that are possible. Looking ahead, I will be entering more competitions and searching for further opportunities as we head into 2020 and beyond. What do you need to do to be braver next year?

Be Consistent

If you want to achieve anything, you need to be consistent, show up and do the work.

I have been extremely busy since August with the book launch of ‘A Lighthouse in Time’ the Adamson Adventures 2, and then the two anthologies, ‘Spooktacular Stories’ and the “CKT Story Collection 2.’ While all the events have been a lot of fun, they would not have been possible without the hard work first. It is consistency writing nearly every day that helps me reach my goals. That and being consistent meeting wonderful supportive author friends at the National Library of Australia nearly every Wednesday. Their support helps keep me on track, determined more than ever to show up at my desk and keep creating.

Even among the chaos and fun of book launches, school visits and author events, I still look forward to the time most days when I am consistently writing. Good habits form when you do them all the time, the brain is more creative and I am generally more satisfied. It is because of this habit forming that I can say the first draft of ‘Fossil Frenzy’ the Adamson Adventures 3, is now complete. The editing process will begin shortly after Christmas. I can’t wait to share it with you hopefully come August 2020.

The next chapter book may be drafted, but I am now in the middle of a Junior Fiction course, that is all about consistency. Showing up daily to write a quota of words, no matter how small, means each day you are one step closer to reaching your goal. Every word written today, is one more word than you had yesterday. This is a brand new story that has me all excited as it is something I have never tried writing before, the ideas and possibilities are endless, I can see the spark of a new series forming.

My takeaway from this - no matter what your goal is, show up, be consistent and you will keep moving forward. Looking ahead, I can’t wait to write and meet new characters and stories in 2020 and beyond. Are you consistent with your endeavours or a bit haphazard in your plans and goals?

Leave Your Comfort Zone Behind

Being brave this year, also meant having the courage to step outside my comfort zone and leave it behind. I am a typical Cancer, happiest when left to hide away in my little cosy shell not taking risks and putting myself out there to be judged.

This was my year to challenge that comfy couch. It all began when I agreed to attend the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) National Conference. Although I was only an attendee not a speaker, I did have the opportunity to be at a book signing table with other CBCA (ACT) members. This lead to my being invited to speak at this years ‘Romancing the Stars’ CBCA (ACT) event a month later. While I am accustomed to speaking in front of groups of kids, (as a former teacher, I have no issues there,) speaking to an audience of adults is another prospect entirely. With butterflies in my stomach, I walked to the front, holding my notes in my shaking hand. But once I started telling my story, something strange happened, I began to relax and forgot all about my notes. I can almost go so far as saying, I enjoyed myself.

After that experience, I accepted the opportunity to speak at the Canberra Writer’s Festival. My nerves were not too bad that day, my audience was both parents and children. As part of the advertising for that festival, we were asked to create a video for social media. That really was way out of my comfort zone. I am practising to improve on this, and who knows, you may see more videos from me next year.

My takeaway - Unless you are prepared to leave your comfort zone behind, you never know what you can do. Looking ahead, stay tuned for appearances and more videos, even if they are somewhat embarrassing. What will you do to leave your comfort zone behind?

Show Gratitude

I am thankful every day for the connections and friendships I have made in recent years being part of the community of children’s writers in the ACT and online in writing groups such as Share Your Story and the Duck Pond. It is through knowing and connecting in a positive way that has lead me on to opportunities and opened up possibilities. I am so grateful to be included along with Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern and Kerry Malone in founding the Story Creators Community which we hope will continue to grow in 2020 as we foster and mentor other creative people towards their goals. I know that without the support of these amazing people both on and offline I would not be as far in my writing career as I am today. I still have a long way to go, however I am mindful and grateful to everyone that shares my creative spirit.

Another note worthy of mention is my gratitude to Speech Pathology Australia for recognising the value in ‘Secrets Hidden Below,’ the Adamson Adventures 1, and shortlisting it in their Book of the Year Awards. I am honoured to have one of my stories not only considered but deemed worthy of such an important industry award.

My takeaway - Find your tribe and be grateful for them. Whether you are a children’s author like me, an illustrator, an adult fiction writer, musician or whatever your creative pursuit, there is a group out there for you, and they will help you move forward just by being there to share your wins and commiserate your losses. There is strength in sharing and connecting with like-minded friends. Looking ahead I will continue to be grateful for my tribe every day and never take them for granted. Who are you most grateful for?

Allow yourself Time For Family and Friends.

Life can get pretty busy with events, engagements and social occasions, it is hard to fit everything in. You have to learn to say no, sorry I can’t do that, (because it’s not possible to do everything for everyone). When all is said and done family come first. Relationships with those closest to you must be nurtured. I find myself in the awkward predicament where my husband is working overseas in a position that makes planning or scheduling time together quite hard. Most of my events need to be booked months in advance, his timetable changes daily. So I try to be flexible and take my laptop and fly around Australia to meet him in whatever city he happens to be in. July, he phoned me from Indonesia to say he had a four day weekend in Jakatarta, could I meet him? I met him in Bali instead. We had four beautiful relaxing days and I managed a bit of book marketing while I was there. I then agreed to fly on to Jakarta with him, then Singapore and back to Port Moresby. A four day long weekend turned into two weeks away. This was only possible because I can be flexible with my time and laptop, however, I did need to return home after that as August and September were fully booked with book launches and school visits. Hubby is home for the next four weeks over Christmas and New Year, so I will not be writing or spending much time on social media. This next four weeks is all important family time. We don’t get to spend enough time together so must cherish the time we do have.

My takeaway - Make time for yourself, your friends and most of all your loved ones. Time is precious and time with family is the most precious of all. Looking forward I will continue to do my best to maintain a healthy balance between my writerly life and my family. How do you manage to fit it all in?

Before you go , some of my writing friends are remembering seasonal family traditions in their December Dreaming. Why not stop by their blogs and see their recollections too. To get you started, here’s the link to one of my past memories, then visit my other #Gr8tblog friends too.

I wish you all the best for the Christmas and holiday season, no matter how you chose to celebrate.

Tis The Season for Holiday Traditions

Cat Michaels

Rebecca Lyndsey

Julie Gorges

Rosie Russell

Julie Schooler

James Milson

The Fun of Book Launches and School Visits.

One of the best things about being a children’s author, is being able to take kids along on an adventure with you through story time fun. Over the past month I have launched the second book in my Adamson Adventures, A Lighthouse in Time. This has given me the opportunity to do just that.

During the official book launch at Paperchain bookstore in Manuka and throughout the many school visits I did, kids were enthralled with my story telling as I took them on a journey from my inspiration behind writing the book to decisions I made by asking those constant what if questions. Every time I began my cutting out story, you could hear a proverbial pin drop in the room as every pair of eyes gazed in wonder and amazement at what I was saying and doing. Their faces lit up with awe when the final shape was revealed. I had them not only intrigued with the story but hooked on reading.

Kids ask the best questions and I always answer them as best I can. Here are a few samples along with my answers.

1. Who is your favourite character? My characters are like my children, I love them all equally and individually for their own unique personalities.

2. How do you make your books so realistic and interesting? I like to set my stories in real places. That means I can do lots of research about the area, explore and take plenty of photos and add little bits of information into the story to make it more real. Kind of like adding non-fiction to a fiction story but then expanding on it and having a bit of fun with it. Naturally the caves at Caves beach don’t go back as near as far as I take them in the book, but it adds to the mystery and intrigue by creating a sense of drama and wonder. By the time we finish talking about the Jervis Bay area, Cape St George Lighthouse, Caves Beach, and Wreck Bay, they all want to go down the coast for a visit.

3. When did you start writing the book? When I explain to the kids just how long a book can take from the initial idea, to writing the first draft, then re-writing and editing many, many times before I am happy with a final draft, they are amazed. I have been showing them the original handwritten manuscript where they can see all the scribbles and changes. This brings more astonishment as they realise even authors make a mess when they are starting out planning their story. Kids learn from this that it is ok to make a mess. Ideas and creativity flows better when you are not concentrating on grammar, spelling and neatness. That can all come later.

Sometimes great questions come from parents, teachers and other authors too. During my story time session at the Canberra Writers Festival and my South Coast book launch with the Shellharbour Writer’s & Illustrators group I had to stop and think quickly when asked these two.

1. Are you concerned with the lack of girls as main characters in children’s books? And do you feel you have a responsibility towards including them? My initial manuscript for Secrets Hidden Below contained three brothers as the characters. It wasn’t until my publisher pointed this out that I had to rethink it. As my characters were based on my own three sons, it seemed natural and fine to me. However, my publisher pointed out, and rightly so, that the books would appeal to a wider audience if one of my characters was a girl. I had to agree. That being said, I feel there are plenty of books coming out these days with great strong female lead characters, let’s not forget our boys still need to want to read too. It’s a fine balance to get right.

2. What is your favourite scene in your newest book, A Lighthouse in Time? I had to think long and hard about this one. Then I remembered the feeling I had when I re-read the manuscript after leaving it to rest for a few months. When I reached a certain part in the story I had tingles. I sat and thought, ‘wow, did I really write that?’ I’m not going to give the scene away, you’ll have to read the book and decide for yourself which scene you think I might be talking about.

I loved being swamped by kids asking for my autograph. I felt special and was honoured by how excited they all were to meet me. I was even stopped on the stairs outside the National Library of Australia as I left after my session at the Canberra Writer’s Festival. A young fan who had just bought A Lighthouse in Time raced over to greet me, show me she had the book and eagerly pulled a pen from her bag for me to sign her copy. It made my day.

Do you attend book launches and events? What are some of your most memorable experiences? Let’s chat in the comment section below.

A Lighthouse in Time is now available here on my website along with Secrets Hidden Below. https://sandrabennettauthor.com/books#the-adamson-adventures

Or through Elephant Tree Publishing.

https://elephanttreepublishing.com.au/current-titles/

Both books are also available through your local bookstore. If they don’t have either of them, simply ask them to order through Peribo Distributors.

5 Reasons to Support Independent Bookshops

In honour of Book Lovers' Day on 9 August, my writerly pals and I are sharing all the ways we adore reading with the #BookLuvHop.. We all love books in one shape or another, but do you still buy print books or do you prefer your stories to come from you direct via an ebook? The day after Book Lovers’ Day is Love Your Bookshop Day and I plan to convince you why your local bookshop should be loved.

When I’m done, visit the awesome bloggers listed at the end of this post and find more ways to share your bookish passions. And hey if you blog, add your feedback and share your family-friendly blog link in our comment section, and we'll spread blog love your way!

Listed below, and in no particular order, are 5 reasons why we should support and love our local Independent Bookshops.

1. Among their friendly interior you will find more than the average popular books

You will find original, quirky, fun, mysterious and intriguing books that are different, often new and sometimes old or even secondhand. Books that have a wonderful smell of their own as you turn the pages. Books for learning, exploring or escaping to new worlds and adventures. The new Harry Hartog at the Australian National University, is two floors of bookish fun to explore. It not only supplies text books to university students, but has devoted the entire second floor to second hand books. There is even space for book launches and writing workshops.

The new Harry Hartog on the Australian National University Campus

2. Local Bookshops support local authors

When the big guys won’t carry your small press publication, it’s the little Independent local guys that are willing to take a chance on you. This Love Your Bookshop Day, Saturday 10th August 2019, Harry Hartog Woden is supporting local authors. Their theme for the day is Love Your Local Author and they are holding a day of celebrations where local authors will have an opportunity to sign copies of their books throughout the day. I will be there signing copies of Secrets Hidden Below from 11:00 am. What better way to meet a bunch of local authors in one place than a rotating line-up of book signings.

My Book signing at Harry Hartog Woden last year.

3. Book Launches

Local bookshops are always willing to help promote an author’s latest release by hosting a book launch. Paperchain Book store in Manuka has always been happy to promote my next book. I have held a book launch there for all five of my books so far and they will be hosting my next book launch on 17th August 2019 at 2:00 pm for my new adventure A Lighthouse in Time - The Adamson Adventures, Book 2. I invite you to come and join in the fun and find out about the secrets that lurk among the shadows of the lighthouse.

Book Launch at Paperchain Manuka

4. Make a great meeting place

If you are meeting one person or a group of friends, a bookshop is a great place to arrange to meet. You can pull up a chair in a cosy corner and read while you are waiting, no one will mind at all. You never know who you might bump into. With all the fun events taking place, there is always someone to meet and greet.

Catching up with fellow local authors at Harry Hartog Woden.

5. Atmosphere

Independent book stores have a unique atmosphere. Often cosy, warm and friendly, like Harry Hartog at Woden and ANU or Paperchain. They welcome you in their doors with their inviting nature of old world charm. While others are bright and vibrantly coloured like the National Library of Australia Bookshop with its stained glass windows that draw you in, demanding to be inspected. Different styles, but both just as enticing. Once inside, you can’t help but browse the shelves. I dare you to try to walk out empty handed.

The Bookshop at the National Library of Australia.

Can you walk passed your local bookshop without entering?

Show them some love this Saturday 10th August, support your local bookshop and your local authors.

What book will you choose to buy?

Thanks for visiting. Please visit these awesome bloggers next, who will inspire you and make you smile with more book loving in the #BookLuvHop

Cat Michaels http://bit.ly/31eJSyE_CatMichaels

Rosie Russell https://booksbyrose.com/book-lovers-day-hop/?fbclid=IwAR20diFcHyELHrY7v9ZDM92yVK0z3ZBD9WTpAUA2nt9Kjp_97VtnRbuPjW0

Rebecca Lyndsey https://rebeccalyndsey.blogspot.com/2019/08/for-love-ofbooks.html

Auden Johnson https://www.audenjohnson.com/2019/08/book-lovers-blog-hope-best-fantasy-book.htm

Auden Johnson James Milson https://wp.me/p3RsfU-2BZ

How Do You Face Your Fears?

As an introverted author I’d rather sit at home in front of my computer and write, but the reality is sometimes we have to help people know about our stories if we hope to sell any books. In life, we all have certain fears.

For kids, it might be fear of the dark, for an adult it might be a fear of huge creepy crawly spiders or slithery snakes. What is your fear? We all have them in one way or another.

But we have a choice :

I recently bought and read a beautiful picture book by fellow Canberra author, Mitch Frost, all about helping kids facing their fear of the dark. The Ultimate Survival Guide to Monsters Under The Bed, is superbly written and vibrantly illustrated. With ten ‘scientifically proven,’ reassuring steps to prepare for bedtime, no child will ever be afraid of monsters creeping out of those dark places in their bedroom again. Kids will learn to face their fear in a humours look at the bedtime routine that will even tickle a parent’s funny bone. Kids previously afraid of monsters, and their parents, will have a much better night sleep. I recommend this book for parents of any child 3 and over that is too frightened to turn out that night light or sleep in their own bed.

A couple of years ago, I too, wrote a picture book to help kids learn to face their fears. Frazzled Freya was a frill-neck lizard who had to learn to face everything and rise, but not before she continued to forget everything and run. Freya had to make a choice, and step out of her comfort zone if she was ever going to join her friends and play and have fun in the desert sun. She too, was afraid of monsters, but her monsters were very different to those hiding under the bed.

This year, I have been more determined than ever to take my own advice and stop running, face my fears and rise to each occasion that presents itself. That means showing up at conferences and festivals, mingling in person. Taking more risks to put myself out there, not only with manuscript assessments but talking more about my established body of work. Talking about myself and my books with and to my peers does not come easy for me. that’s why agreeing to talk to a room full of teacher librarians at our recent CBCA ACT meeting was rather daunting. But instead of running from the experience, I took a few deep breaths and faced it head on. Once I started, I relaxed and to my surprise, with my notes in my hand as a safety net, I didn’t need to read them at all. I admit, once I sat down and allowed myself to breath again, I remembered I had forgotten a couple of things, but overall I did a pretty decent talk, I was able to give myself a well earned pat on the back. It wasn’t so scary after all. The best part of doing this, was sharing the experience with five other awesome local Canberra authors, Samantha Tidy, Shelly Unwin, Krys Saclier, Mitch Frost and Cate Whittle.

The next step, was to embrace making a short video clip. At first this felt majorly impossible. Take after take, my tongue tied and my throat dried up. I had a brain freeze and forgot my lines so many times. I almost gave up, the flight receptors in my brain were at an all time high. But I had made a promise to myself,, this was the year I was going to fight those fears. I sought an alternative way to make the video. I can’t give away too much just yet, suffice to say, I did it. I still wasn’t completely happy with it, I admit I did stumble a few times, but I did the best I could and sent it off. Keep a lookout on my Facebook page, I’ll be able to reveal it there soon.

My five take home points for facing your fears are:

1. Find helpful books to read..

2. Take one small step at a time.

3. It takes practice to conquer your fears.

4. Remember to breathe - Deep, slow breaths.

5. Just have a go, regardless of the outcome, be prepared to put yourself out there.

What are your worst fears?

What are some of the tips or strategies you could share to help others overcome their fears?

I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments section below.

Where Do You Find Ideas for Stories?

Stories , like people, come in all shapes, sizes and genres. Each one is different and unique in its own way. With the exciting cover reveal of A Lighthouse in Time, Book 2 of the Adamson Adventures, my new chapter book for middle grade readers this week, I thought we might take a look at finding story ideas.

In case you missed it, drum roll please…. here is the cover for - A Lighthouse in Time. The Adamson Adventures. Book 2.

When I do school visits, one of the questions that kids always ask is, ‘Where do you find your ideas?’

My answer, basically, ‘Stories are all around us. You just have to look and listen.’

Story ideas can come from - talking to other people. Kids, have amazing imaginations, a conversation can spark a fabulous idea. I have often been heard to say, ‘There’s a story in that.’

- everyday life experiences. The things we see and do can inspire a great adventure. Just sit, listen and observe people. It’s amazing the ideas that will spring to mind.

- memories are powerful tools. We can reflect back on the past, growing up as kids ourselves or from observing our own kids grow. Our memories make our writing voice more authentic and original.

- special events. Christmas, birthdays, even a wedding can create possibilities and help present stories of cultural diversity.

- other books. When you read a lot you travel into new and different worlds. A line from a story can set you off on a completely different tangent, leading to exploring and making discoveries of your own.

- prompts. I belong to a Facebook group that has a one word prompt every week. It is the 52 Week Picture Book Challenge. We are one month into the next year and I already have the ideas for four intriguing stories. By the end of a year, I should have the beginnings of 52 new possible stories. How exciting is that! They won’t all be necessarily picture books, some might be chapter books, the possibilities are endless.

So, where do my specific story ideas come from?

Let’s start with my new upcoming children’s chapter book for ages 8-12 years, A Lighthouse in Time.

For me, the ideas tend to come from memories and experiences. A Lighthouse in Time is no different. For as long as I can remember I have been intrigued by lighthouses. On many a driving holiday around our magnificent Australian coastline, if I spot a lighthouse, I must visit it. To explore inside and climb the winding stairs all the way to the top, is even better! I’ve collected lots of photos and statues of lighthouses from every one we have visited. Imagine my curiosity when we discovered the remains of the Cape St George lighthouse only 2 1/2 hours drive from home.

Our boys were in their early teens then and every January we had a camping holiday at Merry Beach on the NSW South Coast. Mr B being a surfer from way back, was always in search of that perfect wave. So we would explore all the beaches within a days drive of our campsite. To my delight we found and spent time at Caves Beach and the lighthouse. The more visits we made to the area, the more my curiosity grew. Caves on a beach, an area called Wreck Bay and a mysterious old lighthouse. What more could a children’s author ask for? I had to learn more about why this lighthouse had been demolished. I could see the seeds of an idea growing. The lighthouse had to be haunted. Slowly, with careful nurturing the idea grew into something a little more substantial.

Cape St George Lighthouse as it remains today.

An artist’s impression of the lighthouse in the 1800’s.

When Elephant tree Publishing offered me a contract for Secrets Hidden Below and asked whether I could use the siblings to make a series, I immediately thought of this partially written story. I hope when you read it, you will enjoy the adventure as much as I did writing it.

Most of you know by now the story behind the idea for Secrets Hidden Below. Again it evolved from memories and experiences. It was a holiday to Bali with the family many years ago where it all began. I loved the culture and was fascinated by the geography and wanted to write a story for children about this beautiful island that they could enjoy while on holidays. Mr B had already spent several years working in and out of Indonesia, so the family was familiar with Bahasa. After our incredible holiday in Bali, it seemed a natural progression for me to extend my teaching by learning Indonesian and become a LOTE teacher. After further study on Bali and writing, I became confident I was equipped with the language, experiences and knowledge to be able to write Secrets Hidden Below. I recently found an old photo album of that initial Balinese holiday and would like to share a few memories here with you. Just a note, these were taken back in the mid 1990’s, so the quality is not as good as today.

Tanah Lot Temple

Offerings to the Gods at the Temple. Balinese people are very superstitious.

Ubud

Inside a Woodcarving shop at Ubud.

Mt Batur Volcano

Mt Batur Crater Lake

Curious about the third book in the series? The seedlings from another life experience are growing. Where are the Adamson family heading next? Hint : There is no surf in sight, Dad will not be happy, but Zac will be living his wildest dreams. That is, until they become Luke’s greatest desires instead. The title for Book 3 of the Adamson Adventures is Fossil Frenzy. Can you guess where it might be set?

Now it’s your turn.

How do you come up with story ideas

Are they similar to my suggestions or do you have alternative methods? Let me know in the comments section below.

Planning a Trip to Bali with Kids? You Need This!

Are you planning a holiday in Bali?

Do you have kids?

Whether you are going during school holidays or school term, I have found the ideal way to keep the kids entertained and occupied.

Let’s face it, kids get bored easily. From the minute you are on the plane, the ‘Are we there yet?’ questions begin. You don’t want them to spend the entire holiday on their mobile devices but what else can you do?

I have found the perfect solution. - ‘My Awesome Bali Adventure - A Travel Journal For Kids, written by Eliza McCann and Phillip Gwynne. It has everything you are searching for to keep the kids busy and have a memento of their awesome holiday.

From the minute you step onto the plane until you return home, this journal has it all.

There are questions to complete about their flight and information about Bali to get the kids excited. One of the things I love about this journal is that it is suitable for all the family.. Kids will enjoy the word searches, crosswords and puzzles, younger kids have the opportunity to colour and play spot the difference, While there are also plenty of pages for the older kids to write about their experiences.

Bahasa Indonesia is of cause the main language spoken in Bali, and throughout the journal there are plenty of fun ways to learn a little Bahasa by completing fun activities.

In fact there is so much information packed into this journal, I can’t believe someone hasn’t thought of it before. Your kids will treasure this book for years to come. There are even spaces for all sorts of cool stuff that the kids have collected. They can glue in boarding passes from the plane trips, entry tickets to places they have been to in Bali or perhaps even that menu from a favourite restaurant. I was lucky to receive a couple of postcards with mine, maybe you will too.

As a former Indonesian teacher and a parent, I can see that this is packed full of value. Worried the kids are missing out on all that learning at school? Worry no more, they will learn so much language, culture, geography, even a little natural science from completing this journal and take home amazing life experiences that they can never learn in the classroom. Best of all they will have had an Awesome Bali Adventure.

To purchase a copy of this fantastic journal head on over to Eliza’s website -

https://www.myawesomeadventure.com/

Connect with Eliza and check out more on this awesome idea -

https://www.facebook.com/MyAwesomeAdventure/

https://twitter.com/@kidstravelbook

https://www.instagram.com/awesomeadventurejournals/

https://www.pinterest.com.au/myawesomebaliad/

Looking for an awesome Bali Adventure to read with the kids while on holiday too?

Don’t forget to check out my own chapter book for kids aged 7-12, ‘Secrets Hidden Below.’ Join the Adamson family in an adventure of secrets, mystery and intrigue. There is pirate treasure to be found, but beware the guardian snake, lots of rotten-egg gas and a volcano spirit you don’t dare to anger.

To learn more about ‘Secrets Hidden Below,’ you can find it right here on my website. Simply click on the link at the top of the page to my books.

If you arrive in Bali and still haven’t purchased a copy of these awesome adventures, don’t fret. ‘My Awesome Bali Adventure’ is available in all Periplus bookstores throughout Bali.

‘Secrets Hidden Below’ is available at Ganesha in Ubud, Biku in Seminyak and will soon be arriving on the shelves at Spellbound in Seminyak.

Are you planning a holiday in Bali? What are you looking forward to most of all? Please leave a comment below.

Out of My Comfort Zone

January has been a month of massive learning.

I set myself quite a long ‘to do’ list for the year, which including great chunks of writing, I planned to learn more about marketing. This means taking myself right out of my comfort zone. I consider myself a typical crab who is happy to hide inside her shell. As a published author who needs to spread the word, this isn’t good or effective.

From day one, I took the plunge and signed up for a 30 Day Social Media Challenge. The idea being to learn how to engage better with my followers on my Author Face Book Page.

I have found it to be much more of a learning curve than I expected. Although I knew the final challenge at the end would be my most difficult.

During the month I have learnt to engage with my audience in an open and at times deeply honest manner than I ever anticipated. I began sharing thoughts and moments of my life that I would not have shared in a public domain before. Part of the learning was to realise that people want to know the story behind the stories. I will endeavour to give more of that from now on.

One particular post that I found extremely difficult was where I had to ask people to describe me in one word. This could have been quite confronting I didn’t know what to expect, however the response was awesome. Surprisingly this post had the highest engagement and the most comments from all my posts of the month. I was deeply honoured and humbled that people took the time to leave lovely comments using wonderful descriptive words like : achiever, focused, talented, resilient, inspiring and genuine. For the full amazing response the link is here -

Interestingly another post that had a lot of attention was my one about the inspiration behind the writing of my chapter book, ‘Secrets Hidden Below.’ I really appreciate the interest this was given and will continue to write small bits of information about the book’s journey to eventual publication.

As I have already mentioned the final task was without a doubt the hardest. It was spread over two posts to ease us into it. The first one took me so far out of my comfort zone I couldn’t believe I did it. Being asked to put myself on camera in a photo is hard enough, but to expose myself on a video, I didn’t think I could do that. I found it to be one of the most nerve wracking experiences, but I pushed myself to do it. I decided there was no point taking on a challenge if I wasn’t going to see it through to the end.

So what did I learn from this challenge? Other than discovering I could dig deeper and be more determined than I ever thought possible? I realised that like my Picture Book character ‘Frazzled Freya,’ it is ok to come out into the midday sun and shine. I can leave my comfort zone, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and give it a go.

Frazzled Freya had to learn to overcome her fears, as did I.

I also learnt how to schedule posts. Before the challenge I had no idea how to do this. I was surprised how simple and easy it actually was. Before the challenge I didn’t even see the need for scheduling posts. I would add something to my page whenever the idea arose. It was random or ad hoc. Now I know the optimal time to post to my page to reach the highest number of my followers and the type of subject matter that will help produce the most engagement with likes and comments. I now know the type of posts you want to see from me and will endeavour to continue to post items that you, my readers, want to read or see. Even if this does include me producing more embarrassing videos.

Not quite so surprising my first video didn’t fair quite as well as I had hoped even though it did include a kangaroo hopping through the middle of it. Possibly had I mentioned that in my introduction, more people may have had a look. I believe it was partly due to the timing of the post. Part of this particular challenge was for us all to post at the same time of day, This time didn’t seem to suit my followers and the video was lost in the confusion of the ether. Not that I’m complaining, it wasn’t very good, although for my first attempt I did my nervous best. You can see it for yourself if you like. I am posting it again here to demonstrate how far out of my comfort zone this took me.

Overall, it has been a huge learning curve and I promise to continue along my journey this year and strive to give my followers more of the type of content they want. Watch this space, the videos can only improve, (they can’t get any worse!).

Thanks so much to all of you who followed along throughout the month of January. I hope you too, have learnt a little something of interest along the way. Thanks for engaging with all the likes, comments and shares. The more you engage, the more I know what sort of information you are looking for from me.

Thank you to those of you who are new to my Facebook author page. I am so happy you have decided to join me. This month I have almost reached the 400 followers mark. Let’s see if we can reach that magic number by the end of February.

A big huge thanks to Michelle Worthington of ‘Share Your Story’ for organising this awesome challenge. I will strive to grow in confidence. Thanks for all your support and the support of all the other authors who came along on this learning journey with me.

Now it’s your turn. What have you learnt this month? Have you challenged yourself in any way?

Please leave a comment in the section below. Let’s share our learning journey together.

If you enjoyed reading this post, you might also like to read my January post.

I'm Not Much of a Goal Setter, but Here I Go!

Happy New Year to all my readers. Welcome to a bright new year here at Sandy’s Story Chair. I hope you enjoy the stories I have for you again this year.

First up is a blog hop with a wonderful group of bloggers who I have been lucky to call virtual friends in recent years. We are starting the year with our blog posts of ‘What I hope to accomplish in 2019 even if I don’t win the lottery.’

The start of a new year is like a blank slate, and we don’t know what will be written upon it. Even if we don’t hold that winning lottery ticket, there are loads of things we can engrave upon it.

My writerly pals and I are sharing our hopes - on the writing road and in our family life - for 2019 in our #Gr8Blog hop: “What I Want to Accomplish in 2019 Even if I Don’t Win the Lottery.”

Please have a read, and then visit the other #Gr8Blogs linked at the end of this post for more smiles and inspiration.

I’ll admit I’m not much of a planner. a bit like my writing, I tend to go with the flow and see where the road takes me. It is somewhat difficult to make plans at the moment with Mr B working overseas in PNG. He tends to have meetings all over the place and his plans are changed at a moments notice. I try to fit my plans around him to be available to catch up where we can, whether that’s in Port Moresby, here at home in Canberra or any other city in Australia. Makes things difficult at times, I have to be ready to fly somewhere at short notice, but that’s life for now and have laptop will travel. At least I can write wherever I go.

So what are my goals other than trying to see hubby as much as possible?

1. Finish editing ‘A Lighthouse in Time.’ Book 2 of the Adamson Adventures and send it to my publisher asap. The manuscript assessment came back between Christmas and New Year. It was so helpful, I can’t wait to get stuck into my revisions. With all the wonderful family visitors this time of year, I haven’t had the time to sit down and take it all in.

2. I have begun plotting Book 3. The next Adamson Adventure is going to be a lot of fun. I hope to start writing it soon too. The decision on title has to be made, I’m torn between two, perhaps you can help me choose. Which title do you think a child would find more enticing?

   a) Fossil Frenzy

   b) Panic on the Plateau

3. I am looking forward to seeing two of my short stories published in this years Creative Kids Tales Anthology. I had set myself the goal of writing 3 stories for this, but the 3rd won’t be ready in time. See, I told you I am not good at goal setting. I have to be realistic and face the fact I don’t have time to finish it before the Feb 1 deadline. The first story is titled ‘Save it For a Rainy Day.’ It fits the enchanted theme. A small child finds an enchanted star and hides it away for a rainy day until she needs it to do something special for her family. The second story fits the ‘Things that go Bump in the Night’ theme. Two brothers can’t sleep for all ‘The Thumping’ that is going on under the house. They seek to find the answer to all the noise and discover a wonderful surprise.

4. That 3rd story, I have set myself the goal of making it into a picture book instead. I would like to see it published one day. Maybe not this year, but one year. Daisy Dewdrop is a little rain fairy that can’t manage to bring rain to the drought stricken farm alone. She goes off in search of a few essential friends to help.

5. My PB ‘Penelope the Playful Platypus’ is finished and ready to be revealed to the world. My goal for her is to have her published this year. Whether my publisher takes her on or whether I Indie publish, she will be published. Penelope has a fantastic imagination and longs to play with other creatures in her habitat, but sometimes making friends isn’t easy and she must learn to accept not to be too quick to judge.

6. I intend to travel to Bali this year with the hopes of doing a book tour with ‘Secrets Hidden Below.’ It has been well received by a book store chain there who does author readings and signings in their Seminyak store. I would like to see if I can add to that a few more places as well, including the International school in Sanur.

7. I intend to continue to improve my self confidence in this writerly life by attending more conferences. I have already committed to attending the second Creative Kids Tales Festival in Sydney in early April and will also commit to attending the bigger CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) conference being held here in Canberra in June.

8. Meanwhile I will continue to attend as many SCBWI ACT and CBCA ACT branch functions as possible. Late last year I was approached to be a guest speaker this year for the Romancing the Stars CBCA evening later this year here in Canberra. I might even stretch myself out of my comfort zone and do it.

9. As for marketing, I hope to do more school visits, more market stalls. and find more places to sell my books.

10. As we say in ‘Scribbles,’ the online writing course by the amazing Jen Storer, I aim to keep doing ‘the verk!’ One day I might even finish all the course work. Is that even possible?

So I guess my word to set my goals for this year is ‘Focus.’ I need to stop procrastination and distractions and focus on all this amazing and exciting work ahead of me.

Few! For someone who doesn’t like to set goals, there’s a lot going on here. I can’t believe how easily that all flowed out of me once I thought about it. Looks like a busy year ahead. Think perhaps I better add learning some time management strategies to that list.

What do you want to tick off your bucket list this year? Please share in the comment section.

For more inspiration, visit my #Gr8blogs pals below. (Ooooo, and we’ll let you know if one of us actually wins the lottery :) :)

If you blog and want to join us on this hop, just add the family-friendly link to your blog post in the comment section. We’ll visit and give you some blog love-:D

Thanks for stopping by!

Cat Michaels http://bit.ly/2smasqg_CatMichaels

Jacqui Letran https://rovingvegans.com/spread-a-trail-of-peace-world-tour/

Julie Gorges http://babyboomerbliss.net/baby-boomer-looks-forward-to-2019-with-exciting-book-announcement/

Shana Gorian https://authorshanagorian.com/2019/01/10/what-i-want-to-accomplish-in-2019-even-if-i-dont-win-the-lottery-blog-hop/

Rosie Russell - https://booksbyrose.com/index.php/2019/01/10/https-booksbyrose-com-index-php-kidlit-blog-by-rosie/

Carmela Dutra http://carmeladutra.com/blog-post/1354/

Rebecca Lyndsey https://rebeccalyndsey.blogspot.com/2019/01/happy-2019.html

Jim Milson → https://wp.me/p3RsfU-2kw

Corrina Holyoake bit.ly/2RlzhS2

Highlights and Lessons on the Bumpy Road to Writing in 2018.

What an amazing year 2018 has been. I’ve had some major milestone events during quite a roller coaster ride with some pretty big hills to climb and hurtle down at full speed. Has it been much the same for you or has 2018 brought you smooth sailing?

As the end of the year fast approaches, my writerly pals and I are remembering the happy moments as well as lessons we learned from challenges this past year in our blog hop: The Ups, Downs and In Betweens on the 2018 Writing Road. Check out our personal reveals, then visit the other #Gr8Blogs linked at the end of the post for more shared recollections and lessons learned along the way. We hope you'll be inspired to dive into your own special memories of 2018!

So what important life lesson did I learn this past year? You'll have to wait and see at the end of this blog. In the meantime, I'm fortunate that I had a lot of reasons to celebrate this past year. Here are four of them..

1. The birth of my first grandson.

   Ok, I can hear you now, ‘that has nothing to do with your writing journey.’

   Sorry about that, but it was a major milestone event that I would be remiss to mention. Lachlan Edward Bennett arrived in this world on 5th January 2018, a pretty fabulous start to our New Year. In a way you could say his birth is part of my writing journey because he inspires me every day to keep writing and reading more picture books. I admit I am besotted. Love my little man.

My gorgeous first grandson on his day of birth, 5th January 2018.

End of November 2018, almost 11 months old, I can’t believe it!

2. Writing Workshops and Festivals.

This year was the year I was determined to stop hiding behind my computer screen and become more involved with fellow authors in the real world. I began in January with joining other members of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writing & Illustrating) ACT and beyond in a fabulous day out at a writing workshop presented by none other than my all time favourite picture book author, Jackie French. I had such an incredible fun day of learning and inspiration, I became more determined to continue along this writing road.

I then followed through by attending the first Creative Kids Tales Writer’s Festival in March. Again I met and mingled with more inspirational authors, gained an abundance of knowledge and took away with me a fabulous and worthwhile manuscript assessment. I continued to attend SCBWI ACT development evenings and even attended my first CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) ‘Romancing the Stars’ evening. It’s been a year packed full of learning for writing and marketing.

Taking in all I can from the amazing Jackie French.

A few CKT members at the festival.

3. My First Traditional Publishing Contract.

After many years of editing and revising and then having such a helpful manuscript assessment by the very talented children’s author, Sue Whiting, (who I shall be forever thankful to), I finally found the courage to submit my chapter book to trade publishers. Probably the biggest milestone this year, (after Lachie’s birth) was an offer of publication by Elephant Tree Publishing in June. I could hardly contain my excitement. To think that my writing had reached a level where I would receive such an offer blew me away, and the offer includes a series. An author can’t ask for a bigger dream to come true.

Secrets Hidden Below was launched at the beginning of Children’s Book Week in August at both a public launch in Paperchain Book store in Manuka and at a school launch at Curtin Primary. After these I have done more school visits and writing workshops here in Canberra, (Telopea Park School and Forrest Primary) and overseas in Papua New Guinea at the Ela Murray International School, I even did a book signing at Harry Hartog Woden., thanks James Reddin for your incredible support of local authors. The wonderful feedback I am receiving is that kids are loving my story. That fills my heart with joy, after all. kids reading for enjoyment and increasing their literacy skills is what being a children’s author is all about.

Secrets Hidden Below will take you on an intriguing mystical adventure around Bali. With a guardian snake, rotten-egg gas and a volcano spirit you don’t want to anger, it has plenty of mystery for every adventurer in the family. A perfect holiday read together.

You can purchase a copy of Secrets Hidden Below here via my website or at any bookstore throughout Australia. If they don’t have it in stock, just ask and they will order it for you. It is now even available in Bali!

The book launch of Secrets Hidden Below at Paperchain.

4. Meeting Other Authors.
As part of this writerly life we as authors are destined to be alone, writing away in isolation. That is why it is so important to connect with other authors, whether that is virtual or in person. Like-minded people with knowledge and interests that are similar to your own that you can learn from. After getting to know members of SCBWI ACT I took their advice and joined The Duck Pond, an online writer’s group of amazing friendly children’s authors.. A few months later as my confidence grew paddling in the pond, and I splashed around, I waded in a little further and extended myself by also joining ‘Scribbles'.’ An online children’s writing course run by Jen Storer, Queen Duckie herself. It has been a fabulous experience, my learning continues and the support is immeasurable. Along with making all these lovely new author friends means I am able to help support them in person too. Book launches are a wonderful opportunity to get together and celebrate each others success.

A bunch of amazing authors celebrating the launch of Sue Whiting’s latest PB, all holding their own recent releases.

So what have I learned from all this years highlights?

1. Breaking out of your comfort zone and spreading your wings can lead to amazing opportunities.

2. Developing new friendships builds support and encouragement for yourself and others.

3. No matter how much you think you know, you never truly stop learning, there is always so much more to learn.

4. I am braver than I think, I can do this. Each small step takes me further towards my life goal - More kids reading, writing and learning.

Thanks for stopping by! How was your year? What was your biggest accomplishment/event? Most powerful thing you learned the past 12 months? Please share in the comment section. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas season and wish everyone a happy, safe and wonderful 2019.

For more inspirational recollections and lessons learned, visit more #Gr8blogs below.

And if you blog and want to join us on this hop, just add the family-friendly link to your blog post in the comment section. We’ll visit and give you some blog love-:D

Rosie Russell - https://booksbyrose.com/index.php/kidlit-blog-by-rosie/

Julie Gorges: - http://babyboomerbliss.net/a-baby-boomers-ups-downs-and-in-betweens-in-2018/

Rebecca Lyndsey - https://rebeccalyndsey.blogspot.com/2018/12/rockin-around2018.html

Cat Michaels - http://bit.ly/2G17SQf_IndieAuthor2018 2018 closes on a high note after turmoil from rightsizing and writer’s block

Carmela Dutra - http://carmeladutra.com/blog-post/the-ups-downs-and-in-betweens-of-2018/

Auden Johnson https://www.audenjohnson.com/2018/12/blog-hop-2018-my-ups-downs-and-in.html

Corrina Holyoake https://corrinaholyoake.blogspot.com/2018/12/my-ups-downs-and-in-betweens-on-2018.html

Writing Workshops Are So Much Fun.

One of the best things about being a children’s author is that I get the chance to visit schools and meet lots of young readers. Whether that means reading and entertaining the younger ones with my emu puppet or engaging older readers in writing workshops. Either way, a school visit doesn’t have to be daunting, if well planned it can be exhilarating for the students and the presenter.

Recently, with the launch of my new chapter book, ‘Secrets Hidden Below,’ I have had the opportunity to visit two schools and work with students to encourage them with a few new writing strategies. During Literacy Week in September I had the fantastic opportunity to work with a very talented writing group of year 5 & 6 students from Forrest PS in Canberra, then at the end of October I had the incredible opportunity to work with all year levels from Prep right through to year 8 at the Ela Murray International School in Port Moresby, PNG.

Here are my top 5 take-home points to remember from the experience.

1. Be well prepared. Being asked to present to kids ranging in age from 5 to 14 yrs means varying your workshop to suit their requirements. Even the Preps and year 1-2’s had a slightly different presentation than the other. While the majority of the lesson centred around my picture book, ‘Emma the Eager Emu,’ some fun facts (with pictures) to learn about emus and other Australian birds, I was able to ask higher level questions to the 1’s and 2’s when discussing the themes or lessons learned from the story and able to give them a worksheet that required higher order thinking than their Prep counterparts. It was the same with the writing workshops for the rest of the year levels. With each growing age group I could extend their activities.

2. Be adaptable. No matter how organised you think you are, something will always happen to make you have to change things. In some instances the scheduled time slot for a particular group was longer than I had anticipated, while others had been shortened. Remember, you are a visitor to the school and must fit into their timetable. When my time with the year 3’s and 4’s was extended from 90 min to 2 hours, it meant I could relax, slow the pace, allow more time for students to work on each writing task. It also gave me more time to read exerts from several of my books to use as examples of writing strategies instead of the originally planned one. I initially planned to demonstrate writing devices from ‘Gingerbread Aliens’ only, but given a longer time period I was able to include ‘Secrets Hidden Below’ as well. I loved seeing the students all so engaged and full of questions. On the other hand, because there was a large year 5 - 6 cohort, it was decided to split their original session in two. This meant instead of having 2 hours to work with all of them, I now had an hour each for two groups. To make this work I had to decide which parts of the workshop to skip so that they would get the most benefit out of me being there to help them. Some groups were bigger than I had thought, some were smaller. Again, if you are prepared to adapt, you can make this work. As the year 5-6 groups were so large, the teachers decided to move the lesson into the old library. Not so bad, except in 32 C degree heat with rising humidity and an air con system that seemed to be working overtime, it was a) extremely hot, I could feel the sweat running down my back and my face felt quite flushed no matter how much water I drank, and b) the noise of the air con was so loud I had difficulty hearing some of the students answers. I hope they coped better than I did.

3. Year 7 & 8 aren’t so scary after all. I haven’t taught students of this age in a very long time. In fact, not since I graduated from teachers college over 30 years ago. So the prospect of working with them while exciting, was also a bit daunting. I needn’t have worried, they were a fantastic bunch of kids. I began the session by recognising the fact that my books are not targeted at their age level and presented them as a learning tool for examples of writing devices. The students were all very enthusiastic and eager to participate. We had some great discussions, excellent writing and a whole lot of laughs along the way.

4. Questions and answers can stretch your thinking. Sometimes the responses to questions you ask can be surprising. When demonstrating how to draw a mind map I discovered the enormous vocab students have, no matter their age. Talk about thinking on my feet, I suddenly became very aware of my spelling. To say the year 7 - 8’s tested me, is an understatement. I’m still not sure if I spelt telekinesis correctly. I’m sure they all spotted my mistake. I had some surprising questions asked of me too. Things I had never been asked before that really made me think on my feet. I enjoyed the challenge and hope I answered them all to their satisfaction. I can’t believe I did forget to mention the one thing I do everyday during my spare time, I guess because it has become more of a routine than a spare time activity. That is, walking my dog around the country hills where we live. I walk an average of 5 Km everyday with her. We look for kangaroos, echidnas, wombats, lizards and all sort of birds. You never know what I might find that may spark an idea for a story.

5. Relax and enjoy. It all goes too fast. Relax, breathe and take in every delightful moment. Watching students from all age groups write with such engagement and enthusiasm was awesome. Listening to the excitement in their voices as they shared their work with each other and myself felt wonderful. Observing students madly taking notes from every word I said and slide I presented was surprising yet made me feel quite honoured that they wanted to remember it all. It’s all over all too soon and before you know it, you find yourself alone back in front of your computer screen looking forward to the next school visit. I send my sincerest thank you to everyone at TEMIS, I enjoyed my two days there enormously. A big warm hug to you all.

Now it’s your turn. Have you ever experienced the joy of a writer’s workshop or author visit? Whether from the author’s or student’s point of view, please leave a comment below.

Do you have any questions? I will do my best to answer.