Tag: donna munro

Posted in Family life, Happiness

Wishing my readers a love-filled festive season

Posted on by donnadmunro

Christmas, Noel, Yuletide, Hanukkah, festive season, holiday, whatever you call it, or how you celebrate it, I send you the best wishes. I hope you enjoy, love, happiness, good health, good cheer, prosperity and peace. It’s a time where families come together to share food, presents and good times. But for others, it can be a lonely time. Think of your neighbours or friends who don’t have family nearby. Share some of the festive spirit with them. Compassion and kindness help make this time of year a celebration for everyone.

Christmas wishes

I’ll be sharing my Christmas with family. It will be our first Christmas living near our grandchildren, so this year it will be a priceless time. There will be too much food, ham galore, prawns on ice, beers and wine in the eskies, dessert in the fridge (for later and so they don’t melt) and Christmas decorations adorning the table. We’ll wear the mandatory cracker paper hat and tell the ‘dad jokes’ most of which aren’t funny (which makes it even funnier). Secret Santa gifts will be stollen and swapped (causing hilarious heated debates). We’ll play cricket in the neighbouring block, swim afterwards to cool off from the summer heat, drink some more, laugh lots and watch the kids unwrap their presents with squeals of delight. We’ll slather ourselves in sunscreen and insect repellant, reminisce on our year, talk over the top of each other, argue good-naturedly, laugh that we do, play games and love deeply. Family! I can’t wait.

And if you’ve been affected by fire or drought I hope the season brings you some respite and your 2020 is prosperous and filled with happiness and healing.

I’ll be updating you on some exciting Christmas news soon. A bargain book set will be coming soon.

And if you didn’t read it last Christmas I still have my free Christmas read: A Real Christmas Present

What are you up to this Christmas?

 

Posted in Author Highlight, Elephant Creek, Writers

Writers need writers – no one else gets it

Posted on by donnadmunro

So, what’s the best thing that can happen during a writer’s day? Okay, besides being offered a huge advance and three-book deal with a traditional publisher! Movie options? Chris Hemsworth playing your MMC? Writing? Typing ‘The End’ in a manuscript? Meeting a fan of your books? Receiving awesome reviews? Appearing on Ellen? All things I could hope for as an author but there’s another thing that brings me simpler joy, motivation and pleasure.

Catching up with other writers.

Even if the writer is a near stranger, in no time you connect. It’s usually inevitable especially if you write the same genre (in this case Romance). Who else can you talk to about the writing craft? Non-writers don’t get it. Writers understand.

All writers go through the same struggles to perfect their craft. I love the banter, support, encouragement and knowledge gained from meeting up with a writer. The writer I had coffee with was Beth Prentice. We had previously met briefly at Books By the Beach and at 2019 RWA Melbourne Conference. When I told her I had moved near her we arranged to catch up and I’m glad we did.

So, for those of you who don’t write but like to know what writers talk about here’s some of the various things discussed.

Writer’s talk about:

  • How only a writer gets IT (writing)
  • The difficulty of hearing someone critique your work
  • The joy of creating a character you love
  • How fun it is to write sex scenes (after much build-up)
  • The funny reactions to the fact you write explicit sex scenes
  • Finding out there are other writers in your neighbourhood
  • Realising our books are character and emotion-driven
  • Discovering invaluable writing references
  • Laughing at the fact our husbands don’t read
  • Encouraging and nurturing each other’s writing goals
  • Sharing marketing and publicity knowledge
  • Understanding how difficult it is to say goodbye to some characters
  • The best ways to research a story
  • Why we have so many new story ideas going on in our heads
  • Which story to choose next
  • How writing is a joy even though it is damn hard, isolating and time-consuming – it’s still a joy.

We could talk for hours about writing but real life gets in the way and we part company. Though we have work or have family commitments first, when we get our bum back in our office chair and plant our fingers on the keyboard we will write. We’ll write with renewed vigour from our writer-writer catchup. A few hours well spent.

So now, once this post is posted. I’ll be continuing the latest manuscript with more ideas and enthusiasm, thinking of my friend, a few suburbs away doing the same thing. We’ll both be finding out what our characters will do next, where the story is heading and how it will end.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress of Elephant Creek.

Teaser: Why did Toby change his name back to Noah? Can he ever love again after what his ex-wife Katie did?

If you’d like to check out USA Today Bestselling Author Beth Prentice’s books go to: Beth Prentice Novels