Am I good enough?

So, as you can tell by the above title I am having a small existential crisis. Is my writing good enough to publish? Am I just being big-headed thinking I can write at all? Why do I even need to put it out there?

Well, I don’t know the answers but have found a glimmer of hope by reading other novels. I have read several books recently, I especially loved Miss Lily’s Lovely Ladies by Jackie French. It was an intriguing read, well written with well-drawn characters and a great sense of place. There was an interesting twist near the end (Actually, I guessed the mystery but then I love puzzles) which some of my friends tell me they didn’t see coming.

Presently Im reading a couple of Australian ones ATM Judy Nunn’s Maralinga which is especially interesting as my father was there with the Australian Army back in the day. The other is Di Morrissey’s Heart of the Dreaming. It was her first published book and has some good Aboriginal content. It’s interesting for me to see how she handles this area.

Anyhow, I am feeling a bit more sure that my books are worth the effort and must now save up to publish some hard copies. In the meantime, have you tried Kindle Scout? Did it work for you? I am thinking of putting RIP up but will need to study how’s and where’s more carefully. Drop me a line if you have any helpful hints or just a word about how it all went for you.

Okay, ciao for now,  Rosa

Work, work, work

Well hello there again, lovely to see you!

I now have Tuesdays and Thursdays off, so I have time to get my own stuff done. I have been very lazy and not done much in the garden so am trying to get that mess sorted ready for planting season. It gets so very overgrown so quickly but still manages to be a place of recuperation and relaxation. If you are on my FB list you will have seen my spider lilies are looking a bit good, if not that is them in the header picture.

I have also been able to get a lot of editing, collating and a little writing done. I have my book of short stories just about ready to roll just going to give it to  a beta reader and try to reload photos elements on my new (to me) computer so I can make the covers one for ebook and another for print. They’re really the same but one is a full cover.

Now that I’ve made the changes suggested by my formal assessment, I’ve got Sinbad’s tale with an indigenous reader for comment (well, part 2 anyway), and Part 1 with a beta reader. Should get that back soon.

I collated my poetry into book form, tentatively – Creating Light and Dark. Because some of them are, of necessity, a bit dark…alright a couple are very dark but that’s how I roll. There are a couple of poems that I’ve done more than one iteration of and I can’t decide which to put in so am taking them to Writers’ Group tonight and see what they think. I am unsure what to put on the cover yet and should I put some pictures in the body to break things up a bit?

Which brings me to another problem, Smashwords has decided that the covers I presently have for the books up there are not suitable and I have to change them up to higher pixels. (Alright, that was couple of years ago and I still haven’t done anything about it. I blame photoshop, my broken old computer and being too busy in other spheres.) Anywho, I still need to change them and wish fervently I had Photoshop CS 3 or 4 to work with…sigh.

I have given an improved version of RIP to a beta reader and will give Fifth Era to someone tonight. Jenny’s story is re-edited and waiting. I’ve written a couple of short stories and a children’s story for comps.

On the art front I’ve done very little, but I have finished and had framed the portrait of my friend ready for the Percival Tucker Prize. It’s due in before Monday. I had to write an Artist’s CV and Artist’s Statement for that. That was easy, since I’m basically self-taught, it was very short.

Well there you are, you are up to date with my news. It is a bit weird to rabbit on about myself like that but I guess that’s what blogging is about. It helps me see more clearly that I have achieved something. How about yours? What are you doing or planning or both? Talk to me, I need your encouragement and am happy to give you mine.

Ciao for now, Rosa