December 26, 2015 by Jeanette

Highlights of 2015

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and fantastic New Year in 2016

2015 has been a whirlwind of a year for me. Here are some of the highlights.

Writing:

In January I did the Month of Poetry (writing over 30 poems), in July I wrote 30,000 words on Mannok’s Betrayal in Camp NaNo and 50,000 words on Jared’s Choice in November. In addition, I wrote 4 or 5 short stories.

Study:

I was thrilled to finish the Masters of Arts (Writing) through Swinburne University of Technology in July, attending the graduation ceremony last week. I have since enrolled in Year of the Edit.

Publication:

The publication of my story ‘The Herbalist’s Daughter’ in Tied in Pink seems to have broken the drought on publication. Since then I’ve had poems and short stories published in six other anthologies. (Five of the seven anthologies are listed on my Amazon Central page.)

‘Thunderstorm’ and ‘Floating’ in Poetica Christi’s Inner Child anthology

‘The Real Thing’ (second prize) and ‘Tree Dreaming’ in FAWQ’s Brio anthology (SVS Concepts)

‘Broken Promises’ in Another Time, Another Place anthology (Swinburne Students)

‘Lighthouse’ (poem) and ‘Sandy – Perfect Plans’ in Let the Sea Roar (By the Light Books)

‘Ruhanna’s Flight’ in Glimpses of Light (By the Light Books)

‘A Long Time Ago’ and ‘Brisbane Summer ABCs’ (poems) and ‘Lakwi’s Lament’ in Like a Girl (Far Horizons)

I’m working on publishing a longish short story Heart of the Mountain (11,000 words) in January 2016. More on that soon 🙂

Jeanette O’Hagan

Giveaway:

For the chance to win one of two copies of Glimpses of Light – enter the Goodreads giveaway.

During 2015, the International Year of Light, twenty-one authors from Australia and the United States have come together to explore the theme of ‘glimpses of light’ through short stories, poems, flash fiction and creative non-fiction.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Glimpses of Light

by Jeanette O’Hagan

Giveaway ends January 10, 2016.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

October 31, 2015 by Jeanette

It’s all happening

Phew! I’ve hardily had time to catch my breath since July. So many exciting things happening. And best of all – six of my short stories and seven poems are either published or about to be published in seven different anthologies and one e-book(let) between December 2014 and December 2015.

So – here are some of the highlights:

Conference at Bacchus Marsh (October 2015)

Last weekend I had a fabulous time at the Christian Writers Conference at Bacchus Marsh – meeting up with old friends and discovering some new ones. It was a full program with inspirational messages, workshops and connecting in an idyllic location.

On the Saturday, I gave a workshop of Creating a Sense of Place in fiction and creative non-fiction. I also had the opportunity to promote Tied in Pink anthology (particularly appropriate in Breast Cancer Awareness month) and two upcoming anthologies that my publishing business By the Light Books is launching in the next month or two.

I’m looking forward to next year’s conference in Sydney and an exciting year in 2016.

NaNoWriMo

In July I completed 30,000 words & editing equivalents on Mannok’s Betrayal. This third book in the Akrad’s Legacy Series is proving the hardest to write. I’m am very close to finishing the first draft – though editing and typesetting the two anthologies has taken my attention in the last couple of months.

Tomorrow, on 1^st November – I start NaNoWriMo again with an enthusiastic group of friends. While I could be a NaNo rebel and edit during this month – I’m pining to write something new so will be aiming to write the last 50,000 words on Jared’s Choice (book 5).

Short-listed

I was thrilled to learn that two of my poems (‘The Real Thing’ and ‘Tree Dreamings’) were short-listed for the Toowoomba Writers’ Festival Literary Prize and will be published in the associated anthology.

Graduation

In June I finished my last subject for Master of Arts (Writing) with Swinburne University of Technology – and will be graduating in the week before Christmas.

Up Coming New Releases

In December last year Tied in Pink Romance Anthology (profits for breast cancer research) was released with my story ‘The Herbalist’s Daughter’ which continues Anna’s adventures in the palace begun in Fever.

Since then, I’ve had a number of other poems and short stories accepted for publication. I was expecting a few of these to be published by now but unavoidable delays means that it’s all happening in the months of November and December – with the exception of the Inner Child anthology (launched in July). Here’s the schedule for 2015:

July 2015 Poems ‘Thunderstorm’ & ‘Floating’ in Poetica Christi’s Inner Child anthology (available from here).

14 November 2015 Poems The Real Thing & Tree Dreamings shortlisted in Toowoomba Writers’ Festival Literary Prize anthology (presentation at Toowoomba Writer’s Festival)

15 November 2015 E-Launch of Like a Girl anthology (editors Mirren Hogan and Christina Aitken)– promoting girls education through Plan Australia. My story ‘Lakwi’s Lament’ and poems ‘A Long Time Ago’ and ‘Brisbane Summer ABCs’ are in this anthology.

28 November 2015 Probable E-Launch of Glimpses of Light anthology (editors Jeanette O’Hagan and Nola Passmore) – stories and poems of hope. With 21 authors (including several award winning novelists and poets) and 27 stories and poems, this anthology explores light in the midst of dark situations and supports the Christian Blind Mission. My story ‘Ruhanna’s Flight’ is part of the anthology.

5 December 2015 – E-Launch of Another Time, Another Place – an anthology of stories by Swinburne University of Technology Post-graduate writing students and a foreword by Professor Josie Arnold. My story ‘Broken Promises’ has been included in the anthology. You can view the book trailer here.

14 December 2015 – E-Launch of Let the Sea Roar (editor Madeleine Calcutt)– inspirational stories of women facing different challenges in life. My story ‘Sandy: Perfect Plans’ and poem ‘Lighthouse’ are included. This story is the only contemporary one – all my other short stories are fantasy set in the world of Nardva.

26 December 2015 – probable E-launch of the Kindle version of my short story (11,000 words) Heart of the Mountain.

I’ll be posting more information over the next few weeks 🙂

So, it looks like it’s going to be a busy few months – and I’m working towards publishing the first few books in the Akrad’s Legacy series in 2016.

I do hope you can join me in some, if not all, these launches of fabulous mix of anthologies. Maybe, you’ll find something to add to your Christmas list and/or an enjoyable way to support some great causes. Certainly there is many hours of great reading in these different collections of short stories and poems.

Now where is that to-do list …

Jeanette

July 13, 2015 by Jeanette

Catching Up

A big apology for taking so long to write an update. Okay, so I have no real excuse other than being rather busy. What have I been doing since February?

Finished

Last month I complete the final unit of the Master of Arts (Writing) at Swinburne University of Technology. Hard to believe it gone so fast. I started the Masters in 2012. The very first unit inspired me to dust off the novel I’d written decades ago, and start again after a long break from writing fiction. Now, three and a half years later, I have four books close to or beyond first draft, a few others plotted or started, and countless poems and short stories written. I’ve made a bunch of new friends, discovered a whole community of writers and learned so much about the craft. It has been, as they say, a blast – and is only just the beginning of my writing journey.

Launch

I was thrilled to learn that two of my poems Thunderstorm and Floating will be published in Poetica Christi’s 2015 Inner Child anthology. The launch of the anthology will be on Saturday July 25th at the Lutheran Hall, 711 Station St, Box Hill. It’s a bit far for me to travel but I can’t wait to get a copy of the anthology in my hands. Copies will be available at the launch or directly through Poetica Christi.

Accepted

I’ve currently got three short stories accepted for publication – one contemporary and two secondary world fantasy:

‘Sandy: Perfect Plans’ in Let the Sea Roar anthology (to be published by By the Light Books in August)

‘Broken Promises’ – part of the Barrakan Tales set in the Northern Hemisphere of Nardva – is to be published in a historical themed anthology by past and current Swinburne students called Another Time, Another Place to be published this year.

and

‘Ruhanna’s Flight’ – connected to the Tamrin Sagas – in Glimpses of Light anthology to be published in November this year by By the Light Books in conjunction with Christian Writers Downunder.

I’ve been involved in the editing and publishing Glimpses of Light and Let the Sea Roar.

I’m also hoping to release on Kindle my short story / short novella Heart of the Mountain later this year.

I am following up professional edits on Akrad’s Children.

I’ll post publication details once they become available.

July Camp NaNoWriMo

This July I’ve teamed up with some friends to form 2 cabins in the July Camp NaNoWriMo. This is a cut-down version of the NaNoWriMo challenge. For one thing, you can set your own goals. And NaNo rebels are not frowned upon. I decided it was time to finish Mannok’s Betrayal (the third in the Akrad’s Children‘s trilogy). I’ve been working through gaps that need filling in, and editing. Following the rubric – one hour of active editing equal 1000 words, I’ve done 21700 words in the last 12 days – and have had to increase my goal from 20,000 to 25,000 to 30,000 words. I’m thoroughly enjoying immersing myself in the story and loving it. I had to tear myself away from the Five Lands to write this post.

Well that’s enough about me for now.

Three Rivers Road

I would however also like to give a shout out to my friend ‘Jane Batholomew’ – who has written an Australian contemporary drama Three Rivers Road. This is not a Young Adult book. It follows the adventures of a nurse in the remote communities in the Kimberley, Western Australia – and gives insight into the people, the challenges and the landscape. It includes romance and drama but doesn’t sugar coat the realities. ‘Jane’ draws from her own experiences of nursing in remote communities across Australia. You can purchase a copy here.

As you can see, quite a lot has been happening. I’ll won’t wait so long next time to give you the news. And once I get the chance to catch my breath, I’m planning to put another short story in from the Tamrin Tales on this website – this time following Haka or Rokkan’s perspective – as requested by our Scavenger Hunt winner.

Watch this space!