All posts tagged: author

The Paperbook Collective | Issue Six

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There wasn’t any fireworks in our city centre on New Years Eve. Any official fireworks, that is. At around a quarter to midnight, when I was sitting comfortably on my couch, gin in hand, a huge bang went off outside. I raced on to my balcony to find a fireworks display going on in the middle of the street, literally metres away from my apartment window. For those of you who aren’t aware, fireworks are illegal in all states of Australia. Highly illegal, according to a police statement released in the following days. But I took a timely lesson from those kids who ran giggling and screaming off into the bushes that New Years Eve, thrilled with their devious ingenuity. If no one is going to put on a fireworks display for you, you better do it yourself. And it is what The Paperbook Collective is all about, I guess. No one was going to come knocking on my door, asking to publish my writing or exhibit my photography. So, here I am, doing it …

Reading My Christmas Tree and Other 2014 Resolutions.

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I’m not one for making New Years Resolutions. I guess I used to, a few years ago, but the only goal I ever seemed to achieve was spectacularly failing all my resolutions. I’m feeling a bit optimistic this morning though. It could be because I have been listening to Flight of the Conchords non stop for the past four hours, and have consequently been cackling away to myself in an empty apartment. If you are ever feeling a bit flat, I highly recommend you give these guys a listen. Here are a few song lyrics from my favourite song, Hurt Feelings, to inspire you: It’s my birthday/2003/waiting for a call from my family/……/they forgot about me/ The day after my birthday is not my birthday Mum! I am also finishing of Issue Six of The Paperbook Collective, and I am really happy with how it’s going. It will be released on time tomorrow, all things going according to plan. So that’s awesome.  Anyway, I have been thinking about a few things I would like to achieve …

The 2013 Honour Role.

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So, as you are all probably aware by now, the final Issue of The Paperbook Collective for 2013 has been published. It’s been quite a journey! Despite a few hurdles we have managed to put together five issues of this creative, collaborative magazine. Suffice to say it has far exceeded the humble expectations I had for it back in July. I honestly envisioned a magazine of perhaps five pages, mostly my work with perhaps one or two articles contributed by other bloggers. The response I have had to this magazine has been overwhelming, it has achieved exactly what I hoped to design: a magazine that showcases creative talent from across the globe. Yesterday I spent several wonderful hours visiting as many contributor blogs as I could to write a little personal note of thanks for being a part of The Paperbook Collective in 2013. But there are several contributors who do not have blogs, and several that I couldn’t seem to find anywhere in the depths of the Internet. I guess blogs and domain names …

Chasing Dreams.

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Happy Monday everyone! It’s been a crazy yet creative week over here in Paperbook Land. Blogging has unfortunately fallen by the wayside a little bit, so I thought I would take a sec to fill you in on what’s been going on. This time of year seems to move at warp speed, doesn’t it. Last time I looked up it was mid-September and I was struggling to move house, suddenly it’s almost December and I have more projects on than hours in a day. I’m sure you can all relate – what with Christmas carols and looming holidays and end of year sales and impending visits from all sorts of family members both close and estranged, it’s a hectic time of year for everyone. I highly recommend taking an hour to yourself each day to relax and read a book. Who has time for that?? I can hear you screech. I guess it’s about making the time rather than trying to find it. Anyway. Here’s what’s been happening in my little corner of the globe. …

The Paperbook Collective | Issue Four

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Good afternoon Paperbook People! As always, I am pleased and proud to announce the arrival of yet another issue of The Paperbook Collective… The November Issue! I’m sure that everyone is feeling a bit fragile from last nights various Halloween shenanigans. So stop whatever you’re doing, sit down, pour yourself a bit fat drink of your choice, and curl up with the November Issue of The Paperbook Collective. As always, it’s available in two very easy versions for you to peruse, a PDF version and an online version. Here are the links for you: PDF ~ The Paperbook Collective Issue Four 2013 ISSUU ~ The Paperbook Collective Issue Four 2013 It’s quite convenient, isn’t it, arriving at the start of the weekend like this. Take some time out to explore Paperbook Land with our insanely creative contributors. Have a fabulous weekend. Enjoy. Cheers,

When Good People Write Bad Books.

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There is, quite honestly, nothing worse than reading a bad book. The indecision it provokes is the hardest. Should I soldier on and hope for an incredibly unexpected fantastic ending that makes the whole thing worthwhile? Should I mark my place and slide it back onto the bookshelf, set aside for some point in the future when I have more time or more patience? Should I burn it so no one else has to read the same poorly constructed sentences and farcical story line that I am currently being assaulted with? I think the worst part is knowing that the hours you spend reading a bad book could be spent far more enjoyably reading, well, a GOOD book. Let’s face it, we all have a restricted number of hours a day that we can hide ourselves away with a book, and those hours are very precious and often hard-won. They deserve to be enjoyed, appreciated, embraced. Not spent with half your mind wondering if you would be better off seeing if there is anything decent …

A Month of Steinbeck.

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A few things have happened to me this morning. I woke up just in time to see the moon poking its head through my bedroom window. I finished reading Bryce Courtenay’s Whitethorn…and was a little disappointed. More on that later. I discovered that we had run out of milk for my morning coffee so I used cream instead. It tastes so damn good that we’re never buying cream again, to prevent a future heart attack. We hit 250 likes on The Paperbook Collective Facebook page. I got my hands on my new business cards. And… I received the email I have been waiting for. The email that I have been hinting to you about. The email that made my day, my month, heck, my whole year. You may remember that I recently reblogged my post John Steinbeck is My Homeboy. This post has proved quite popular; perhaps because it encourages people to consider their own favourite authors, perhaps because it has a few interesting facts about my own favourite authors, or perhaps it was my gratuitous use …

Keeping It Simple.

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So, today I was browsing around my blog, you know, as you do. I was trying to update my list of book reviews in my page On The Shelf, so I was looking back over old posts to see what I had missed. And guys, I got overwhelmed. Shit, I thought, if I can’t navigate my way around this blog then how the hell is someone else going to?? I toyed with a few ideas, looked at various widgets, but nothing seemed to really simplify the problem. I didn’t want an endless list of blog posts halfway down my page, I didn’t want the growing list of categories cluttering up my sidebar, and I was worried that if I simply replaced those with a search bar viewers wouldn’t know what to search for and would leave in frustration. (I have installed the search bar, by the way, so let’s see how helpful it actually is. Let me know). I wish everything was laid out in one place, I thought. That’s when I decided to change …

Challenge Accepted.

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I had an extremely lethargic, lazy, quiet, simple (slightly hungover) day yesterday. It was lovely. But it’s over now. And I’m back in blog land, jumping in with two feet or back up on the horse…or however that saying goes. Firstly, a gigantic THANKYOU to everyone and anyone who has re-blogged, tweeted, Facebooked, or otherwise shared issue one of The Paperbook Collective. The idea for the magazine was initially inspired by the wonder that is the blogging community – the encouragement and support that flows through the screen from around the world. Well I am happy to say I was not disappointed. The online world is really quite incredible sometimes. You guys rock. For those of you who have jumped on board The Paperbook Blog in the past few days, I am providing the links to The Paperbook Collective. It is a free online magazine filled with work from around the world, submitted by bloggers just like you! It is available in two formats: A downloadable PDF: The Paperbook Collective_Issue One2013 and an online magazine …

The Controversial Enid Blyton.

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So, I had planned to write a post in which I explored the lives of controversial writers. The older I get the more I want to know the person behind the words…because let’s be honest, they’re so damn fascinating! This idea was given to me by one of my awesome followers, the lovely Jade over at Jade’s Jungle. In response to my post on Enid Blyton’s The Enchanted Wood, Jade made an intriguing comment about how Blyton’s life didn’t reflect her writing. I had to know more. I had a post drafted in my head, one in which I looked at the controversial lives of several writers. But this was put to rest by another amazing follower, belllettres, who informed me that Blyton’s work has been severely censored, re-edited and generally bastardised in order to comply with our ridiculously PC society. I had to know more. There is so much controversy surrounding this beloved children’s author that there is no room to look at others, they will have to wait for another day. So, to Enid Blyton. One thing …