YIPEEEEEEEEEEE! I've completed the latest edit of The Isthmus and sent it away! I am so happy/relieved/thrilled/dead.

It's still a work in progress; I have to add a few more scenes (one I ran out of time to add - blast!) and further improve the character interactions, and follow one thread a little more.

But it's done.

Walking on the mountain soon!

Happy writing
Bo
x

PS Yes, I enjoyed that large glass of Banrock Station Moscato

Wild storms, power out, bloody cold - again!
It was 26C on Thursday...It's 3C at the moment.
Spring is a feisty lady this year.

(Won't stop me walking in 2 hours! Then again, I'm assuming the mountain is still there.)

Editing like crazy. Deadline is tomorrow.

Happy writing
Bo
x

For why book titles are so important, check out these two posts on Title Mania from the MUSA blog:

NOTE: for "part 1,"  scroll down to September 16, 2012 (or search for "Title Mania")

For part 1: http://musapublishing.blogspot.com.au/2012_09_01_archive.html

For part 2: http://musapublishing.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/title-mania.html

Thanks Chris for the links!

Happy writing
Bo
x

Windy, cold, but still gorgeous. Sun orchids, acacias, bird calls, new native flowers, and a haze of the tiniest moths dancing in a ray of sunshine.

Yep, I can handle this!

Editing. One entry sent away this morning, one to go.

Happy writing and editing
Bo
x

PS  Gratuitous nature pics, "sun" orchid, the road in...a different kind of beautiful every day

Saw a pair of golden whistlers (Pachycephala pectoralis) at the summit today, with the most melodious set of trills (in addition to the territory calls) that I've ever heard. Amazing.

Photo of the male GW is from the Birds in Backyards website (http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/) . Check out their info page too.

Yes I am still editing. A "summary" page has gone well! I'm really pleased.

Happy writing and birding
Bo   xx

Two weeks off work! So what am I doing? Editing, editing, EDITING. I'm such a party girl (I wish). But with two deadlines looming larger than a CEO's bank account - I have to MOVE IT!

That doesn't mean I'm a total hermit. Spent Saturday morning with the Mt Barker Bush Action Team removing a bunch of obnoxious weeds on the north-eastern flank (gorse bushes, bridal creeper). I dug out 4 more large clumps of bridal creeper - may it die 1002 deaths.

Did I mention it was warm too? Seems like the long winter is breaking at last. The forecasters are predicting a hot summer; Alice Springs is already in the high 30's (Celsius) and is now over 150 days without rain - unusual even for them!

It's Spring, and the best parts of working on the summit are the wildflowers and the birds. The native lilies are amazing at the moment (no photo does them justice), the acacia paradoxas are still blooming (much to the delight of the birds), native orchids are cuddling together in shy clumps, and there's a host of other tiny flowers amongst which are the stackhousia and bulbine bulbosa (native leek). And two special ones I'm watching closely...I'm hopeful of a repeat of last year...

Birds: The visual bird count was low due to the high winds (the birds move down the mountain), but I did see thornbills, rosella, y/f h/es, babblers, and currawongs and (I think) the bronze-winged pigeon. I HEARD more thornbills, wrens, spineys, RBFs, shrikeys, pardies, fantails, golden whistlers, clogs, ravens, kookaburras.

And The Crows lost their semi-final by five points...Bugger!

More walking for this week. Amidst the edits.

Happy writing
Bo
x

PS  Today's photos courtesy of Mother Nature and Spring!

Two weeks' break from work! Whoo hoo! Now it's editing, editing, and more editing, bushwalking, gardening, watching birds, gazing at sunsets/sunrises, did I mention editing?

Having some spam in the comment box. May have to close it  (for a short time) while I contact Weebly.

Happy break to students and staff. And it's warming up!

Enough to send Tolkein's (or Terry Pratchett's) dwarves CRAZY! A mountain covered in gold! Not real gold (sorry, put those axes away) but laden with acacia flowers ("puff balls") from crown to base. What a sight! I don't remember seeing such an array, and it's joined by the flax lilies, tiny native orchids, and a host of others.

And a decent roll up on the bird front too: Black-faced cuckoo shrike (almost nabbed a photo), thornbills (zitting everywhere), silvereyes (they're back!), RBFs, y/f h/es, shrikeys, spineys, fantails, wrens, rosellas, ravens, clogs...and HEARD babblers, pardies, sulfur-crested cockatoos, and kookas. Not bad!

A busy week with a science demonstration workshop on Thursday that I co-hosted for LMASA. Thank you Sam for all your hard-work - I now have to buy that metal-mesh waste bin! We managed to snare some video footage; I recorded most of the demos (think I missed one) and struggled a bit on the rather stiff zoom in/out dial. BUT it's there. Now I just have to edit it (...edit???....AAAAH!)

Friday was a fun night out at the Sir Terry Pratchett play Reaper Man performed by Unseen Theatre Company at The Bakehouse Theatre. A night of daffiness, fun, mayhem, silliness, laughter...and a poignant moment that wasn't lost on the appreciative audience (competing against "The Footy" [GO CROWS!] and "The Show"). Unseen Theatre at their best! The cast and crew are fabulous, and the genteel relationship between DEATH and Pamela Munt's "Miss Flitworth" is a delight - their tango is terrific! Love the wizards. Let's face it: Discworld is the only place where DEATH can steal the show - and everyone laughs. Check Unseen's website for session times: http://www.unseen.com.au/

On the writing front: It's editing, editing, EDITING. This week, I'm restricting social media to the early hours before work, locking myself away in the breaks (at work) and hacking at the manuscript. Or else!

I've heard hermits have a more interesting life... :)

Happy writing
Bo
x

Spring! My favourite time of year (achoo!) with an abundance of native flowers thanks to the rain! The summit's awash in a sea of gold - golden wattles (still hanging on) and the prickly wattles just out this week. Add to this the tiny fan-flowers, running postmen, orchids, flax lilies, and a host of others (not sure what they are) and it's a feast of colour.

Mind you, that didn't mean we missed out on the weekly Thursday storm. Actually, it was the Wednesday-Thursday storms this week with 3 days of high winds. Not exactly fun.

On the writing front: DON'T MISS Steven Lewis's Get Branded seminars for ASA (Australian Society of Authors). I attended Friday's workshop at SAWC, and all I can say is: He's fantastic! In the allotted six hours, he presented an overview of why it's important authors have a "brand," the role of social media, started us on Twitter and Facebook, and covered the basics for LinkedIn and YouTube. He's fun, energetic, smart, savvy, and gets down to business. If you haven't caught up with him, check out ASA's website for details, or Steven's own Taleist site (www.taleist.com).

On the bird front: I think they're still recovering from the wind tunnel blasts since Wednesday. Lots of tweets, but they're hiding (or at the pub). I did see/hear pardelotes, RBFs, wrens, currawongs, y/f h/es, spineys, a super-cute grey fantail, thornbills, golden whistlers, shrike thrush, and a black-faced cuckoo-shrike. Did I mention the native flowers? :)

Writing not reading: Hammered out one of the stubborn scenes from The Isthmus! YESSSSSSSSSS! At last! This week, I finish the other scene, convert the short version to the longer version (that might take another week), and a few character moments, and write a "Project Description." Yep, simple.

Not.

And my deepest sympathy to our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, with the news of the passing of her father. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Happy writing
Bo
x

Hi All

Back to writing at last! I'm progressing on those two extra scenes for The Isthmus, and I've sent an entry into Chuck Sambuchino's "Worst Storyline Ever" context. Check out more info on http://tinyurl.com/95xa97y and follow Chuck on Twitter: @ChuckSambuchino

Did I mention we've had our first weekend of SUNSHINE in over 4 months? WOW! Of course, we had fog first thing on Saturday (see pics below) but after that - it's been GORGEOUS! And yesterday was Father's Day too - so hope all those fathers, grandfathers, and "stand-in" fathers (brothers, brothers-in-law, uncles, friends) had a wonderful day.

And the birds are coming back to the mountain. Still a bit shy after the heavy rain and high winds, the territory calls of the golden whistlers, fantails, y/f honeyeaters, wrens, spineys, babblers, pardelotes, and 3-types of thornbills are a joy.

Went to see "Orpheus in the Underworld" at the Adelaide Festival Theatre on Thursday night. If it's coming to your city - GO AND SEE IT! It's a fun night out, beautiful music, fabulous singing, gorgeous costumes - and hilarious. Operetta at its irreverent best!

I'm fighting a heavy cold as I write this (thought I'd avoided it this year) so back to the pen/keyboard.

And the photos: Adelaide Oval redevelopment (from the safety of King William Street), the moon - a tribute to Neil Armstrong, MtB summit, and the River Torrens (a creek, really) in fog.

There's a FOG theme here...

Happy writing
Bo
x