Just a reminder for anyone who wanted to submit a short true-life story for the ‘Moments with Dad’ anthology - today is the closing date. Or, if you’re on the other side of the world to Australia - tomorrow is the closing date. But then again, if you had totally forgotten that you wanted to write a story for this collection and haven’t even started, we could always pretend that you are on the other side of the world even though you live down the road from me.

Either way, please send it in soon I would hate for anyone to miss out. The closing deadline is Monday 30th April, with cash prizes for the top four stories.

For more information about just what kind of stories we are looking for at Life’s Inspirational Moments please check out the factsheets on theme, guidelines, tips and the style of writing we are looking for. It’s all there for you, and if you’re serious about being published it is well worth taking the time to read it.

 Have fun

I was just sitting at my desk when I realised that I haven’t actually written anything for … well … since the ‘phantom’ rattling of the front door handle - no creative writing anyway. Not even my blog! Thankfully it only took a couple of minutes to come up with a reason (other than because it’s school holidays and my week’s been rather full of meetings).

Wouldn’t you think that since one of my favourite phrases is, ‘even ignoring is a distraction’ that I’d get caught up in ignoring less? As I sit here and survey my room I can see the contents of a briefcase that needs sorting after my last meeting, one box of papers waiting to be folded, one shin-high pile of papers to shred, 4 piles of papers to file and one sprawling mass of papers stretched across my 1.8m desk.

After all these years of writing it still amazes how I keep getting caught up in the same distraction, the only thing that’s different is that I recognise it sooner.

So I have a question for you, do you repeatedly get caught up in a distraction that stops you from writing? If so, what is it and how do you fix it?

Of course, if your answer is reading blogs feel free to be creatively fictional with your reply, I’m going to need some laughter to sustain me through my tidying.

It’s official, just heard today - Pam and I will be having a booth at the Alzhiemer’s Australia 2007 Conference in Perth. It’s being held 29 May - 1 June at our you beaut, brand new Convention Centre right in the middle of Perth. They have some excellent displays organised and enough speakers to keep your mind buzzing for the rest of the year.

You’ll need to register at the official website  if you want to come along, but if you’re going don’t forget to look out for our booth. We’ll be selling and signing copies of ‘Stolen Moments‘ and a few other little treasures, but you’ll have to be there to find out what they are.

If you already have a copy of the book and haven’t been able to find a good enough reason to buy another copy why not just come down and say,  hi, anyway. You’ll find us the heading of ‘Stolen Moments’, apparently Life’s Inspirational Moments is way too long to fit on the sign. (Funny that’s the same response we get about our website domain before people bookmark the site. Sorry never considered that before we chose it.)

As anyone who has previously been receiving the now defunct Writing to Inspire e-zine knows, I am in the process of writing my first young adult novel. I like to say ‘in the process of writing’ it sounds so much better than ‘procrastinating over the first four chapters’.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about the great writing motivator I discovered last night. It forced me to write over 2500 words before I collapsed in a heap at 2am.

The man had gone out, the children were in bed (I’d like to say asleep but that would be a lie) and I thought, ‘Ah great time to catch up on my words’. I have a daily target and a finish deadline that I know I’ll reach but despite being a Writing Coach I still like my fair share of distracted time.

So I sat with my laptop and struggled through the first 100 words, stumbled through the second 200 then got in to my flow. As I reached 890 words (yes, I check the word count that often) I heard the front door rattle. My first response was, ‘Great he’s home’. My second was, ‘But it’s not midnight and he didn’t give a double ring’. This is when the panic set in. During school holidays I am always better at panicking than writing. Instantly I started my impression of the Fe Fi Fo giant (have you ever tried stamping your feet when you’re on tip toes? It takes practice). Then when every single light and radio was on in the house and the dog had been invited into the house for only the third evening in his life, I opened my mobile and phoned my man. I had to confirm that he wasn’t sitting outside having forgotten his house keys – luckily for him (and my plan to have a long and happy marriage) he wasn’t. 

I was so unnerved by the door rattle (which in hindsight could have easily been the cat rubbing up against the door – duh!) that I couldn’t sleep, so I spent the next four hours writing. I stopped only when I was too exhausted to co-ordinate clicking the mouse button with one hand and moving the cursor on the touch screen with the other. By then at least my mind was so filled with personal congratulations on actually writing that any possible/fictional burglar didn’t get a look in.

Weird the things that motivate us.

Technorati Profile

Over the past few years my knowledge of websites has grown from ‘Oh that looks pretty’ to ‘Have you considered altering your page above the fold to …’ But I didn’t actually realise how far I had come until I went in to my husband’s office the other day and said, ‘I’ve altered the html on the sidebar to delete the Search Box and add a Blogroll.’ I guess there is nothing like learning hands on.

Which is why the Society of Women Writers, WA, have asked Heather Goldsmith to come and talk to us about ‘Understanding Blogs and Web Journalling.’ Heather has been blogging successfully for years and journalling for even longer. You’ll find her online at A Creative Journal  if you would like to know more.

Anyway, Heather is a longtime friend of mine and I have her promise that there will be no computer jargon in her talk, or long words come to that.  It should be a fun and informative talk, so if you’re in Perth, WA this Tuesday and would blend into a large group of women why not check out the details of the meeting?

During my time I’ve had my fair share of radio ‘on air’ time, both as interviewer and interviewee. The last few weeks have been kind of fun in that regard.  

Last Thursday I was finally interviewed with Pam (Life’s Inspirational Moments) on Curtin Radio, one of Perth’s bigger smaller radio stations. I say finally because actually getting in the building was an event in itself. We were first invited there a month ago, but then there was the first power blackout in the station’s living memory, then the double booking, then the misunderstanding over dates, but finally we made it for our 10 minutes of fame. But it did make me wonder how people in cities larger than Perth handle driving across town for the promise of 15 minutes of fame. 

Easter Monday I was invited to talk about audiobooks on 6PR, one of Perth’s bigger radio stations. This time a phone interview, probably because it was a talkback programme, but I wasn’t going to knock that especially since the interview time they had chosen was well into the dark hours – with or without daylight saving. (For those interested we got the invite following a press release I sent to the local community paper, which much to my delight led to articles appearing across Perth not simply in MY community.)

Monday though, was also our only family day out over the Easter break. So after much chocolate (yes, I found where the Easter Bilby had hidden it), wine, frivolity, and me being taught how to hit a golf ball (they never taught me the technical name for it), I positioned myself in front of the phone at 11 o’clock in the evening not quite sure what was going to happen.  

Thankfully both interviews ended up fine, no awkward silences, no inane questions that I couldn’t answer, no embarrassing word slips, and even the occasional laugh. 

But it led me think about how many people I know writers and otherwise who panic at the mere thought of using radio to promote what they do. So I’ve written a list of Secrets to a successful radio interview that I always try to follow. Let me know if they help or if you have any more that you think I should add.

Okay, no chocolate as yet so I have come back to make another post.

Do you have any great stories about you and your dad, or your husband and your children, or your son and your grandchildren? You know the kind of story that shows:

• how wonderful fathers can be,
• how coincidences are too big to ignore,
• how amazing a bond can be with a father,
• what a difference they make,
• how their role has changed over the years,
• or perhaps you are a Dad with some amazing stories involving your children or father.

Because if you do Life’s Inspirational Moments is eager to hear your story or stories.

They, or should that be we, are putting together a book of true-life short stories that all relate to Dads. It’s going to be called ‘Moments with Dad’ and the deadline for emailing in the stories is April 30th 2007.

If you visit the site there are some very specific guidelines that you need to follow if you want to increase your chance of being published. Don’t underestimate the importance of following them.

But my added advice to you would be to think of a single event that really encapsulates the relationship with the Dad and write about that. Don’t try to string together snippets of a long term relationship, one single action or memory will be more inspiring to the reader.

My second piece of advice is ~ don’t assume we are only looking for professional writers. We don’t mind doing a little editing if the story is worth it, and I promise we will be nice about it.

So go on, what memories have you got to share? At this time of year when families are all getting together there has to be one recollection that glows stronger than the rest.

Yes, I’m finally here. Took a while I know, but you wouldn’t believe the Easter traffic.

Just a quick introduction for those who don’t know me, I’m a writer and a writing coach. Yes, I’m one of those lucky people who is able to make money doing what they love. Which for me is to wake up every morning and write whatever I want to write, of course by the afternoon I’m writing what I have to write, but at least I have the mornings …

As anybody who has been to either of my sites www.writingtoinspire.com or www.lifesinspirationalmoments.com will know, I enjoy helping other writers, especially beginners, with their writing. So if you have any writing questions you’d like answered please feel free to send them in as a comment and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Well that’s it for the moment, I’m off to see if the Easter Bilby has brought me any chocolate yet. 

Have fun