creative writing | creative life
Several years ago a stranger approached me (via email). She wanted to meet for coffee. She wanted to talk to me about creativity and writing and the world of children’s literature and…creativity. When you're an author you often get requests like this. And by-and-large my fallback is no. I mean, can you imagine what it’s …
1. Get Good Photos. Lots of 'em! For me, this tip originally came from Denise Duffield-Thomas. And then from watching Leonie Dawson's branding reach magical proportions. Get good photos. You will not regret it. It's made a huge difference to my biz and continues to raise my profile. Truly. Everything started to shift and change …
If you've been following me for any length of time, you'll know I LOVE Leonie Dawson's, My Shining Year Life and Business Goals Workbooks. I've been buying them for five or six years, now. I'm almost superstitious about them. Apart from the fun and colour and massive inspiration bombs I get from them, I …
Confession. I should be working on my book. But. The house is quiet. It's raining (softly). And I don't want to write a book, I want to write a BLOG POST. And have a cuppa with you! But first. Keeping it real. Sometimes, I look at other writer's websites. I'm especially interested in the websites …
Continue reading "Two new things I’ve learned about self-care (this week)."
WTF? Yes, dear reader, I do still blog! In fact, I've missed it (and YOU) desperately. Sometimes, I think blogging is my favourite form of writing. I love the immediacy, the intimacy, the ongoing relationship. And I LOVE all the pretties. So, Elsie's makeover. Of late it has ground to a halt. Because... WINTER. Holy …
This week at girl and duck, we opened The Scribbles Academy. It's been super exciting and lots of people have jumped on board. Thank you!!!! I know you're going to love your Scribbly experience! But how did this all begin? What's the real story behind girl and duck? I wrote about this a couple of …
Continue reading "Author or Businesswoman? The Story Behind Girl and Duck"
Lately, a stream of brilliant questions have come my way for this year's season of Q and Q Friday. Thank you!! Among them, one about poetry has stuck with me. In fact, I think it came in late last year. I've been mulling it over ever since. A beautiful, thoughtful and unexpected question. What does poetry …
Continue reading "Notes from a Depth Year: Poetry, Art, Nature and … Home Decor"
Here's Part Three of the trilogy, my love! Talk about a saga. Let's start with This Writing Life. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly! The Good Truly Tan: Baffled! (that's book seven) came out in October (in paperback and in audio). The series continues to delight old fans and gather new recruits. This year …
Continue reading "Part Three. My Year in Review: Work and biz, the flops and the favourites"
Look. See the water on the steps? Yep. That's rain. Rain, I tell ya! Oh, happy days. Perfect weather for plannin', dreamin' and schemin'. Do you plan your year in advance? Do you set goals? I do. Kind of... If you subscribe to girl and duck (and why wouldn't you?) you would have received an …
What's happenin', duckie? It's Christmas! Well, nearly. We're on the slippery slope but I've decided not to lose the plot this year. Instead... I'm systematically working through our house. So far we have one festive, almost pristine, room. The dining room. Naturally. We painted it. White. It used to be green. Green, I tell you! Did …