I achieved a personal dream and BIG milestone with Tears of The Cheetah, this is me, in a bookshop IN BRISBANE AIRPORT.... yip - finally I got into the airports. There were sightings all over and it was so exciting, and I finally got to go into Watermark Cafe, Brisbane Airport, and stand with the awesome sales attendant (who probably thought I was very nuts...) But it was a surreal moment that I had hoped for for so long.

For those who follow me on Facebook and twitter, you will know that I have had a run in with my health these last three months. Had ganglions cut out of my hand, and then a 19mm stone and my whole gall bladder removed in March.. NOT fun.
















I have to admit that I am not a good patient at all... But I’m on the mend!!! And cross fingers the rest of 2016 I will be my normal perky self!

In between these health scares, I was so lucky to presented a workshop at Strathpine library on editing. (For those who asked for the notes - they have gone out in emails today - apologies for the delay... I didn’t forget you,(except Lorraine - I can’t find your card, if you read this PLEASE get in touch with me) for the Moreton Bay Regional Councils Write Around Moreton Bay program.

I’m a Mac baby, iphone, ipad, Macbook Pro, and Mini on my desk... Apple products all the way.... So, most places I present at are windows followers.... one of the ‘always do’ items for me, is to convert my KeyNote into Powerpoint, and have it with me, just incase something goes wrong, then I can just switch to any-old laptop, and still have my presentation work. For some reason, I hadn’t pre-done this, and you got it... I couldn’t find one of my connectors so ... over to windows.

Lucky I had my all my lovely husband with me, and he sorted out the tech issue (Thanks Shaun!) while I talked the hind leg off a donkey as always .... but it was also sad as I had put in these really pretty transitions that then were not there, and the powerpoint just ticked over one page at a time...

When I got home, I began to strip the powerpoint down to bare bones to send out as notes, and it occurred to me that that is sometimes what you do anyway when you edit. You write something, you remove all the candy floss around the story line in the edit, and you are left with great bone structure - and everyone know you need those great bones to be a supermodel... and your book does too.

So what I refer to being brutal in the edit notes, strip out scenes that do nothing, I really do mean - REMOVE the suckers, no matter how pretty you wrote them, if they are deadweight - they go. Just like all the pretty-ones in my powerpoint - gone...LOL

























So my next teaching all day workshop is in Bunderburg 21st May, for QWC.

Date: Saturday May 21
Time: 10.30am - 4.30pm
Venue: 80A Woongarra Street, Bundaberg
Price:
QWC Members - $65
QWC Member Concessions - $59
Young people (25 and under) - $59
Full Price - $110
Concession - $99


To BUY TICKETS press here, it will take you to the relevant QWC page..

A good setting can be more than just the backdrop of your story. Learn how to harness a place, building or landscape to highlight the emotions of your characters and convey your story's themes in this workshop with novelist, T.M. Clark. Across the day, you will utilise research and the five senses to enrich your story, face your characters against the elements and how a setting can bring a narrative to life.

This Course is Ideal For:
New writers and writers with a regular writing practice; writers looking to try new forms; and writers looking to refresh their skills.
 
What You Will Learn:
• About the role of setting to establish tone and genre.
• How setting can inform characters and be used to increase dramatic tension.
• Developing a textured setting that feels real to your readers.
• How to create a workable plan to assist setting development before writing.
• The tools necessary to effectively plan and implement setting as a character within their own books.

I so hope to see you there...

So after a mammoth task of updating everything, I hope I’m now finally up to date.

If you want to know more, follow me on any of these social media outlets,





you obviously get a more intimate look on the day to day what’s happening in my life and my office... if not, no worries, see you right here on my blog, next time..


Bye 4 now
Tina