Categories
Random thoughts Reading Writing

2/52 Home again and being introspective

I both love and loathe writing. Like the nursery-rhyme girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead: when [it] is good, it is very, very good; but when [it] is bad, it is horrid.

I was pretty excited last March though, to be so near the end of my Justine Browning journey I was ‘querying’ agents, and ‘in the trenches’. Then a hiccup regarding word counts hit – at the same time as I received a huge pile of English drafts to read and return to my high-school English classes. Enter my first overwhelming encounter with my darlings’ use of ChatGPT, and the world of AI writing.

And I lost it. All motivation. All hope of ever ‘making it’ as a published author. Because seriously, what even will the publishing industry LOOK like in ten years, with AI now here, and here to stay?

Admittedly, life also got a heap busier with my Mum deciding to separate from my Dad, but there you have it – the series of inciting incidents which brought my 2023 writing journey to a screaming halt.

But this year, I’m determined to look on the bright side. Intentionally. And I couldn’t help but laugh when “Goodwill Librarian” posted this, this week:

 

And that was all it took to shake me from my self-imposed writing paralysis. Because I could see clearly how words are important! I should know – these past school holidays I’ve read more books than I’ve read in simply AGES! Other people’s words – their viewpoint on this incredible thing we call life – has been important to me. And who’s to say that my words might indeed be important to others?

Hence this return to my poor neglected blog. To eke out some words and fling them into the ether, with nought but the hope that someone, someday, may stumble across them and read. Maybe even comment!

And even if none do, the externalisation of my thoughts into text is good for me. Straighten out my own understanding of my personal world view, as it were. And ‘there’s a spider in your bra’ is certainly so disparate a response to ‘undress me with your words’ to what I could ever conceive, that it’s good for me to realise and understand this!

I hope you smiled like I did at that meme. And have a great week, dear Reader!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
Blogging challenges family anecdotes Writing

1/52 Memories, from Melbourne, with hope

And so it begins; my first blogpost of the New Year. And I’m in Melbourne, which apparently used to be called Batmania prior to being renamed back in 1837.

(And no, although it’s amusing to think of a black-winged crime fighter controlling the convicts in this area of Down Under, apparently it was named after John Batman, a leading member of the Port Philip Association and the person who negotiated a treaty with the Aboriginal elders to purchase 600,000 acres… so nothing to do with DC Comics, Inc.)

But discovering this fact the other day got me thinking about the past, and how so much of history gets forgotten, both intentionally and accidentally.

I met a lovely lady last night – my cousin’s mother-in-law. It was her 76th birthday party and our conversation had moved onto the topic of tattoos. I related the story of one of my family member’s, who’d faithfully kept a diary – until the day his girlfriend at the time found it, read it, and used it against him. Unsurprisingly, he’d decided to stop journaling, and ink his memorable events onto his skin instead. I’ve always wondered if this second method resulted in lost memories. And this saddens me.

2023 was one of those years which I’m glad has ended. And although I could blithely say “I could happily forget whole chunks of it” I know that, should I *actually* do so? Sure I’d be more free-from-pain than I am right now, but I’d also no longer be me. Our memories are what makes us who are we – and there’s lessons I learned through those painful 2023 experiences that I’m glad I won’t have to re-learn.

So here I am, starting 2024 more despondent than I can ever remember being, but intentionally trying to look for snatches of hope for a brighter year. (They *do* say when you’re down, the only way is up, right?) And hope, after all, is all we need, yes? Aren’t there a plethora of films out there whose entire premise is that hope is stronger than hate, or fear, loneliness or depression?

So that’s how I’m looking at 2024. One day at a time, one hour at a time. Trying to see the good, rather than focusing on the less-than-good of the recent past. Moving on, moving upwards. And recording it in words here on this blog, which I’m grateful to be able to do. Not everyone feels they have the luxury to record their thoughts in text, after all.

So. Here’s to a hope-full week ahead for us all, dear Reader, and I’ll see you next week 🙂
⁃ KRidwyn

PS Just cos I can: the doubledecker bus I rode from Tullarine aitport to Melbourne CBD. The last time I rode on a doubledecker was in 1980 in London!

Categories
Christianity Writing

a Christmas thought…

Christmas

the time of gifts

of family gatherings

of special food and drink

of decorated rooms and trees with lights

of little children asking Santa Claus for gifts,

of songs like Jingle Bells in well-stocked stores, of much excitement as children unpack

the full stockings they had hung up empty in hope on Christmas Eve now finding many small delights within

a whistle, cracker, orange, chocolate, or balloon before they find their gifts under the tree,

tear off the coloured paper wrap with hasty glee and happily try out the new toys they received.

 

What is the reason for our Christmas season? Why do we have a special holiday?

Why focus on spending time with family?

And why give presents and send cards to friends?

 

Do we even give such things a thought,

as we celebrate together and keep to our traditions, having parties and a massive Christmas feast?

 

Does the season bring to mind what happened when Christmas was inaugurated

some two thousand years ago?

And do we realise that the birth of Jesus is so important in human history

that we divide our time into BC and AD?

 

How unique is Jesus Christ?

Has any other man at birth

had angels in their thousands herald him in song?

Or had a special star that wise men saw which spurred them on to travel from afar

to come and worship him and bring their costly gifts fit for a king?

How could this child of poor parentage be such a threat to Herod who was king, that God told Joseph they must flee,

escape to Egypt, where Jesus was for years a refugee?

 

Did Gabriel indeed appear to Mary to announce

that, though she was a virgin, yet by God’s power upon her, she would conceive?

Did she really hear him say that the son that she would bear would be very great, and be called the Son of God,

who would reign on David’s throne forever

over an everlasting kingdom as the Prince of Peace?

 

What is the reason for our Christmas season?

Why celebrate with family, and why so many gifts?

Could it be that our holiday reflects that holy day when God gave in love to all men everywhere

the very greatest present of all time, a gift that they may choose

to receive or to refuse, His son, our Saviour,

Jesus.

*********

poem courtesy Jeanette Grimmer, December 2023

 

Categories
#Springinyourstep family anecdotes

Puppy!

Mum has a new friend. Her first ever dog. ‘Trav’ – the travelling dog 🙂

Isn’t he just adorable!

Have a lovable month yourself, dear Reader!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
Life More about me Random thoughts teaching

On ‘schooling’

So my two school-aged kids are at the same school again, for the first time since June 2021. It’s Brisbane School of Distance Education, and they’ve completed the first week of Term 4.

And so far, it seems to be going well! Miss15 started last term, so it wasn’t ‘all new’ for her, but my taller-than-me-now Master14 has been at it for a week… and he seems to be tracking okay 🙂

Such a relief. This parenting gig is harder than it first looks… and wow but that pregnancy bit does NOT look comfortable!

I’m always second-guessing myself. Should I “let” Miss18 have a gap semester or a gap year – or just figure it out for herself? Will the benefits of Distance Education outweigh the issues for the other two, or have I just made yet another foolish decision? Will they be able to support Master14 with his autism, more effectively than at a regular school? After all – that’s why I’ve moved him…?

And when on earth does it all get easier?

Still. BSDE schooling *seems* to be going okay, at this moment in time, so here’s hoping that this will continue… Wish me all the best, dear Reader!

Til we meet again 🙂

  • KRidwyn
Categories
Random thoughts

Grateful beyond measure!

I very rarely drive my husband’s Camry. Something to do with writing off his last one. In my defence, no-one’d ever told me that you don’t keep on driving when in a hailstorm! But it is what it is, so I don’t drive it much.

The other week was an exception though. It was my father-in-law’s birthday lunch, my husband was working for the day, and I needed to transport myself with my three cherubs and my Mum to the party. And so we swapped cars; Ian took the Hilux and I used his Camry.

And of course, that was the cue.

Not really how I expected the trip to go. Praise God for the angels that must have been pushing the car along, to get to the Bruce Highway off-ramp and safe!

Two hours later, we made it to the party.

Note to self: stop driving Ian’s car!

Have an accident-free month yourself, dear Reader 🙂

  • KRidwyn

 

Categories
family anecdotes Life More about me

thoughtful.

As in, full of thoughts.

It seems as though the majority of children these days have ‘coped’ with the separation of their parents. And it appears as though I’m joining their ranks. At the age of 49.

I’m too full of thoughts, it’s difficult to write them all down.

Sorry, dear Reader. I’ll try again next month.

I hope yours is a good one.

  • KRidwyn
Categories
momentous events

and how!

Busy is an understatement!

On the flip side though, there’s this:

Isn’t she a beauty?!

See you next month, dear Reader!

  • KRidwyn
Categories
momentous events

Happy birthday, me!

Today I want to thank some people. I want to thank my brilliant Mum, Rehanah, for bringing me safely into this world 49 years ago, and to my parents for nurturing and guiding me since then.
To Ian, for saying some special words and then staying with me since then, 27 years ago, and also to my amazing three cherubs, as you all make each day a delight.
Thank you to my extended family, all my friends, and my colleagues, as without each and every one of you my life would be the poorer. Thank you all for the amazing human beings you are, and for making the journey I’m making through this life the wonder that it is. I truly appreciate you all!
And here’s to another trip around the Sun for us all 🙂 🙂 🙂
Categories
my novel-in-progress Writing

Stumbling…

So my querying journey ran headlong into a wall the other week. I’d been sending out query letters and the first several pages of my story for a fortnight or so, happily exploring QueryTracker and garnering rejections but expecting these as par for the course… when I stumbled across an agency website page which stated word count expectations for a variety of genres.

Blow me down but they were wanting between 35K – 80K for Middle Grade. The piece I’d poured my blood, sweat and tears into, barely tipped the scales at 27K.

Heart attack! What if the rejections I’d been getting weren’t because the agents didn’t feel like they liked my story enough… but instead were rejections out of hand due to my paltry word count? Had any of them even read my pages? Was I counting myself out of the running; doing myself and my story a disservice because the word count wasn’t hefty enough?

So I withdrew all active queries, and thought. And thought, and thought some more.

You see, I’d originally intended the story I was querying to be but the first in a 7-part series. And yes, even though I *know* it’s not wise, I’d gone blithely ahead and drafted the majority of all seven stories. And all of them were in the 27K – 33K range.

It had occurred to me within seconds of reading that page, that I could be staring down the barrel of seven rejections, based simply on word count!

After a period of grieving at the thought of my story never reaching an audience, I realised a mental re-adjustment was in order. Then it hit me.

Why did it have to be a 7-part series? What if it were a trilogy instead?

As in, Books 1, 2 and 3 becomes ‘Book 1’.

Books 4 and 5 become the sequel.

Books 6 and 7 then finish the arc as the ultimate title in the series.

Huh! Word count target achieved! So now I’m editing what *was* Book 2, which I’m hoping will become Part 2 in my newly enlarged novel.

 

Let’s see what happens when it’s done, huh? And now I’d best go: I’ve QUITE a lot of editing and polishing to do!

 

See you next month, dear Reader!

  • KRidwyn