Today was the monthly meeting day for the Taree Scribblers group and a very lively session it was. There were ten of us around the table and everyone had something to say. Each month we set a subject for the members to write a short story on, maximum of 500 words. The subject for today's meeting was 'absent friends' and everyone had a different slant on the subject, from humor to pathos. It is so interesting to see the different styles and is always the favourite part of our meetings.
We're all going to be very busy from now on as we've decided to publish an anthology of stories from the members to coincide with next years Manning Arts Festival. It is held in the middle of the year, June I think,so there will be lots of writing, editing, proofing and deciding happening before then. I'll keep you posted as we go along.
This weekend Peter and I are going to Melbourne for a long weekend to catch up with our family members down there, so it will be no computer, no writing for a few days. Here's hoping I don't have withdrawals.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Equality for women
I'm not a radical feminist. I've always been quite happy to be a woman, thanks very much. In fact I enjoy it. There are so many differences between men and women, and thank God there are, that I don't say men and women should be equal, but I do believe strongly in equality for women when it's a level playing field.
What's brought this on? Well, a couple of things.Firstly I heard a news item saying that women in Australia in many areas still earn less than men for equal work. Wasn't that meant to be fixed back in 1970? Obviously not. WA women are worst off with with the average difference being 26 per cent. This applies over many sectors while the health industry is a whopping 46 per cent. Now , how can this be justified? One of the often overlooked results of this difference means that women have less money than men to invest for their retirement, so they will be worse off in retirement too. Why should women be financially disadvantaged it this way?
The other thing that made me think was a contestant in my favourite TV quiz show, The Einstein Factor. In case you haven't caught up with it, it's a quirky quiz show with no prizes, contestants play for the glory of winning. It's hosted by Peter Birner a very droll comedian. Contestants choose their own categories and recently a very smart young lady named Kirilee( what a pretty name, I think I'll use it for a character in a book sometime) chose as her category the six wives of Henry the Eighth and that set me thinking. Certainly a king can't cut off his wife's head today ( I wonder if Charles ever felt that way with Diana?) but how far have we really come since the sixteenth century? After all, domestic violence is still alive and well, in Australia and in all the other countries that pride themselves on being enlightened.
It was not until 1893 that the Married women's Property Act was passed in NSW stating that 'henceforth a woman's property shall remain her own after marrige'. Before that everything a woman owned became her husband's property, leaving her totally dependent on him for absolutely everything and totally at his mercy, and the law always favoured the husband in cases of violence. (It was the injustice of this that prompted me to write my latest book An Independent Woman).
Even so women had to wait untilthe early 1900's to gain the right to vote, while in USA it was 1920 and in UK 1918,but then only to women over thirty.
There are still many parts of the world where women are unable to vote, while in Sudan a woman can be sentenced to flogging with forty lashes for wearing trousers.
We all know that here in Australia, in the majority of homes, it still falls to the woman to do the greatest amount of the household chores and child raising even if they both work. Maybe that will never change but I think a bit more equality is called for.
What do you think?
Friday, September 25, 2009
Artists and writers day
Last Sunday I spent a few pleasant hours at JaeBees Restaurant in Nabiac where Justine, the proprietor and chef, was holding an Arts and Crafts day for local artists and writers. It featured works from many local artists as well as books by local authors, represented by
Jacqui and I signed books and gave away free 'mini books', which contained short selections of our writing, to JaeBee’s customers. Many thanks to Justine for her support of local artists and writers.
JaeBees is a great family restaurant situated in the main street of Nabiac, only about 50 metres from the
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
busy but exciting
What an exciting and busy time these last weeks have been.
First, there was the pleasure of receiving my new book, An Independent Woman, from the publisher. There’s always the worry it won’t look as good as you hoped, but I was thrilled. The quality is excellent and I just love the cover. I was particularly concerned about this as I’ve always been disappointed with the cover of my first book, Inheritance, but this one is beautiful, just as I had envisaged it.
Added to this I received a 5 star review from Sarah Cooke, the well known independent editor, reviewer and author here in Australia. I was quite overwhelmed by her praise for the book. If you’d like to read it, the full review is on my website
www.kateloveday.com/books.html
Then of course came the excitement of the book launch. The people at the Bulahdelah Historical Society were very helpful to me while doing my research for An Independent Woman, which is set predominantly in Bulahdelah in the late nineteenth century, and when Malcolm realised my book would be ready in time for the biennial re-union of the residents of Bulahdelah and Myall Districts he invited me to participate, an invitation that I was delighted to accept. After all, what better place to launch a book than in the town where the story is set?
Many of its citizens, both past and present, attended and it was wonderful to meet so many of them and hear their many stories of the old days. The Historical Society had done a wonderful job creating special historical displays in the Old Court House, which is now a museum. It was all very interesting and I think everyone enjoyed themselves immensely.
As if that wasn’t excitement enough, later in the week Peter and I drove to Brisbane for the annual Romance Writers conference. It was the first time I had attended one of their conferences and what a great experience. I participated in several workshops, run by well-known names among the authors. The star guest was Mary Jo Putney, a writer from the US who has written twenty nine books. Imagine! She has made all of the national bestseller lists including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday, and Publishers Weekly. She was wonderfully interesting to listen to, and easy to talk to. Her workshop was fun as well as informative. A couple of her quotes were – ‘We writers have the world at our fingertips, and our fingertips at a keyboard.’ And ‘ successful writers are talented, persistent and a little bit crazy.’ I can certainly relate to the last two! Thanks Mary Jo.
Apart from the many interesting speakers it was wonderful to meet and socialise with so many other writers. The pre-conference cocktail party was a fantastic ice-breaker. The theme was ‘Arabian Nights’ and the room contained more dancing girls and slaves, (with a sprinkling of sheiks as well amongst the brave partners accompanying them,) than you’d find in the harems of Araby. If the decibel level in the room had gone one notch higher I think the roof would have lifted. A good time was had by all! If you check out the photos I’m sure you’ll agree.
And now it’s back home, with a lot of knowledge from the conference. Party time’s over and lots of writing to do. The second book in the trilogy-A Liberated Woman -is due for release next year and that means more research, more computer time and (hopefully) the pleasure of continuing the story.
First, there was the pleasure of receiving my new book, An Independent Woman, from the publisher. There’s always the worry it won’t look as good as you hoped, but I was thrilled. The quality is excellent and I just love the cover. I was particularly concerned about this as I’ve always been disappointed with the cover of my first book, Inheritance, but this one is beautiful, just as I had envisaged it.
Added to this I received a 5 star review from Sarah Cooke, the well known independent editor, reviewer and author here in Australia. I was quite overwhelmed by her praise for the book. If you’d like to read it, the full review is on my website
www.kateloveday.com/books.html
Then of course came the excitement of the book launch. The people at the Bulahdelah Historical Society were very helpful to me while doing my research for An Independent Woman, which is set predominantly in Bulahdelah in the late nineteenth century, and when Malcolm realised my book would be ready in time for the biennial re-union of the residents of Bulahdelah and Myall Districts he invited me to participate, an invitation that I was delighted to accept. After all, what better place to launch a book than in the town where the story is set?
Many of its citizens, both past and present, attended and it was wonderful to meet so many of them and hear their many stories of the old days. The Historical Society had done a wonderful job creating special historical displays in the Old Court House, which is now a museum. It was all very interesting and I think everyone enjoyed themselves immensely.
As if that wasn’t excitement enough, later in the week Peter and I drove to Brisbane for the annual Romance Writers conference. It was the first time I had attended one of their conferences and what a great experience. I participated in several workshops, run by well-known names among the authors. The star guest was Mary Jo Putney, a writer from the US who has written twenty nine books. Imagine! She has made all of the national bestseller lists including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday, and Publishers Weekly. She was wonderfully interesting to listen to, and easy to talk to. Her workshop was fun as well as informative. A couple of her quotes were – ‘We writers have the world at our fingertips, and our fingertips at a keyboard.’ And ‘ successful writers are talented, persistent and a little bit crazy.’ I can certainly relate to the last two! Thanks Mary Jo.
Apart from the many interesting speakers it was wonderful to meet and socialise with so many other writers. The pre-conference cocktail party was a fantastic ice-breaker. The theme was ‘Arabian Nights’ and the room contained more dancing girls and slaves, (with a sprinkling of sheiks as well amongst the brave partners accompanying them,) than you’d find in the harems of Araby. If the decibel level in the room had gone one notch higher I think the roof would have lifted. A good time was had by all! If you check out the photos I’m sure you’ll agree.
And now it’s back home, with a lot of knowledge from the conference. Party time’s over and lots of writing to do. The second book in the trilogy-A Liberated Woman -is due for release next year and that means more research, more computer time and (hopefully) the pleasure of continuing the story.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
First Flight
This is my first flight and am liable to have a slip-up.
Forgive me, for I shall get better
Forgive me, for I shall get better
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