to be or not to be continued...

So I went to the beach to kill some time today and got a bit carried away with people watching. It made my imagination do something really wack! And this is what I came up with...

A small child, maybe 3 or so years old running towards the crashing waves then squealing and running back as soon as the chill of the water touches skin. But that stupid child keeps running back and forth, squealing each and ever time that water gets too close.

Is that really what humans are like? They're so stupid; they experience a bad feeling and yet they go back for more. They make the same mistakes over and over again. I've been told that the human race has the most potential. They evolved the fastest; their technology is second to ours and they're catching up fast. That's why I'm here - I had to see for myself.

I don't know how they stand to live like this. I don't know how they live like this at all, let alone having to stand it. They shouldn't have to really. If I agree to what they want me to do, it would all change. There would be no need for the human child to run squealing from a small crashing wave it knows it's going to come in contact with anyway. Did I mention how stupid that is?

They might be the race who has developed the fastest and who have the most potential but I really feel for their stupidity.
"It's because they don't know any different," a voice said from beside me. I knew Natika would come here even though I asked her not to. I wanted her to stay behind. I wanted to experience this on my own; make up my own mind.

I didn't say anything at first. I considered ignoring her; pretending I didn't see or hear her, but instead I sighed.
"What are you doing here?"
"They don't just create thechnology; they've go one up on us Lotta; they have evolving emotions, feelings. Balance. That's why the Mother wants you to do it," she said, ignoring my question.

Finally I looked at her. She smiled encouragingly. She wanted me to do it, but I couldn't help but be unsure about it.

I may or may not continue with this...

From HP to TW: How to write for Young Adults

As promised, I'm here to tell you how the workshop at the Brisbane Writers Festival was. I attended the "From Harry Potter to Tim Winton: How to write for Young Adults" today and it was out of this world! well... not literally, it was held at the Queensland State Library. Belinda Jeffrey was the speaker and I was very impressed; she did a fantastic job.

The material of the workshop itself was very useful to me. We covered many different topics from how many words a YA novel should be to good (and bad) opening sentences and pages. We were given handouts that I will no doubt refer back to regularly.

There were people there from all different writing backgrounds. Some just starting out with absolutely no experience (Welcome!); some people like myself who've done a bit of writing and aren't afraid to admit we need some guidance; creative writing university students; and people who've actually been published! So there was definitely a variety of people who attended.

During some of the writing exercises I think I've come up with an idea for my next story. On my train ride home I even started plotting out how that idea might come to life! It's only a little spark so far, but it has the potential to turn into fireworks!

Happy Reading, Happy Writing!

It's where the air is clear

I wanna start out by saying that we live in a very beautiful country. I've just been on a bit of a road trip to the out back, to a small town called Yuleba. It's where the air is clear (except from smoke - it's back burn season) and there sometimes isn't another person in sight. It's where the dirt is real red, not fake. It's where people wave and say hello to you no matter who you are; and it's where the pace is slower. (Maybe because there isn't any phone reception? - Just saying)

The drive out took about five and a half hours of me screaming along to the music crackling out of my broken speakers. And I didn't see a kangaroo at all... the whole way! I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. However, I DID see some pretty amazing sites: a sign saying "Amaze yourself, visit...", paddocks and paddocks of farming land and lots and lots of trees. And did I mention that the air is clear out there? Consider it mentioned.

The reason for my trip to the middle of nowhere you might ask? I went out to see a friend who has been living it up in the fresh air. I can't believe it's taken me eight months to actually go out and see her! It definately wont be that long before my next visit.

I'll let you in on a little secret... even though they're small towns out there, double check for servos... I stopped at a town on my way home to fill up and I thought to myself "This is a small town, this is probably the only servo so I better fill up here." So I did at $1.55 a litre! Still thinking that this is the only servo in town I watched as the price went past $60 and then pass $70, and then past $80. I grudgingly went inside and payed the nice people and told them to have a good day. But as I drive out of the drive way and around the corner... what do I find? Not just another servo, but 3 more servos who all had their petrol price a whole ELEVEN cents cheaper than where I actually filled up!

Other than that little hiccup, my road trip to the great outback was great!

Brisbane Writer Fest 2011!

I can't help by be excited about the Brisbane Writers Fest 2011 next month! I've actually never been before so I don't know what to expect but hey, that's all part of the experience. Right?

I'm proud to announce that I've booked myself into 2 of the workshops

• From Harry Potter to Tim Winton: How to Write for Young Adults on the 7th September
• Getting to ‘The End’: Writing for Young Adults on the 10th September

If you're interested in going to the festival head over to http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au

I'll be sure to report my experiences so stay tuned!

Lauren Kate Signing

This is just a little something I thought I'd share with everyone.

I arrived at the signing of Lauren Kate (Chermside, 6 Aug) and took my place at the end of the long line. I'd never been to a book signing before so my expectations were nonexistent. I didn’t know how long the line would take to get through. I didn’t know if Lauren Kate would keep signing if it went over the allocated time. And I didn’t know if I should have actually read her most recent book before attending.

I won’t bore you with the details of conversations I had with others lined up. But I just wanted to say that Lauren Kate was a professional the entire time. She smiled for every photo, signed every book and looked amazing the whole time. She kept signing until everyone was through even though she had another signing to do later in the day. It took 1 hour and 20 mins for me to get through and the line was still fairly long after me and it didn't matter that I hadn't read her latest book.

I could only hope that someday, if any of my books are published, I could conduct myself to be even half as amazing as Lauren Kate.

See my blurry picture taken with her below and to follow her on twitter, search @laurenkatebooks

I recommend you read the Fallen series by Lauren Kate. Definately a good read. J

Spread your wings and fly

The tunnel didn’t feel quite like a tunnel anymore. The tunnel of life I mean. It felt more like a vise and someone else was in control of the leaver. Someone else was cranking it round and round, making it tighter and tighter; harder and harder to keep moving through. It used to be so big that you could run through it, fly through, breeze through it with the wind – easy peasy right. But since someone else took control of that leaver, the spaced closed in so I could only jog, then walk, then I had to be crouched over and then, crawling – hands and knees.

But how to get that control back. How to take a hold of my own vise, my own tunnel, my own life. There were no holes to crawl out of, not big enough anyway and I’d just have to get back in it again anyway. But there was a tiny threat of light coming from ahead. I stopped crawling for just a moment. I closed my eyes and breathed in deep. I could smell something. I couldn’t quite decide what it smelled like but it was like sweat and red roses mixed together.

That was it. I did my best to stand up in the crawling space. I was crouched over, well and truly but I wasn’t on the floor. There was space between me and the bottom. I took a step forward. That one step took up most of my energy and I thought about stopping again to close my eyes, to give up. But I didn’t; I took another step.

I kept taking steps until the crawling space became crouching space, then walking space and right back to breezing with the wind. Back to moving with the light instead of only seeing a tiny thread of it from a distance. I took another deep break and I finaly realised what I could smell, victory. It's always going to be hard work, but the result is pretty sweet when you make it. I guess it just goes to show that no matter how hard the tunnel seems to be, there will always be at least a tiny thread of light at the end of the tunnel. At least a tiny thread of hope.

Spread your wings and fly. It’s your life. Take control.

Foam mattress

If words could be sold or bought, the person who put the words 'forgive' and 'forget' together would be more than a billionaire. Recently I’ve learned that by being willing to forgive and quick to forget I’m a much happier person.

So be resilient, be happy. Don’t be like that horrible foam mattress at that dodgy hotel you stayed at that remembered the shape of the last person who slept on it. Bounce back, learn from your experiences, be resilient, forgive and forget.