toearlyretirement
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NaPoWriMo Wrap-up
I made it through the challenge of NaPoWriMo again for April 2019! It is always a struggle to feel that my poems are any good when I do this challenge, I seem to churn out so much rubbish, but as with NaNoWriMo, the point is quantity over quality. I will have to set aside some…
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The Painter
‘I have done five layers of background I want to make it twenty,’ she says. ‘What’s the background of?’ I ask. ‘Just colours, like everything I do.’ ‘I spent hours on this one making the background. I was really pleased with it – a rich matte black but then I got drunk when I did…
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NaPoWriMo 2019 WIP
So far I have written eighteen poem as part of NaPoWriMo this year. I wouldn’t necessarily say that they’re all good, but they’re not all bad either. I will probably go back to them later in the year and review them, There’s sure to be a couple that are worth working on. I had be…
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And now for some poetry
It turns out I work best when I’m working on a deadline, and a month-long challenge is like a deadline every day. In April I usually participate in National Poetry Writing Month. Modelled on the popular National Novel Writing Month, which I do in November, NaPoWriMo provides prompts and encouragement to help you come up…
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The month that was, the month to come
Phew! February was the month of book launches. I had my own launch on 17 February, you can read about that here. I also attended three others: a novel, Small Blessings, by Emily Brewin, on 13 February; a poetry collection, Palmistry, by Chris Ringrose, on 23 February; and a collection of poems and photographs, Blue Milonga, by Edward Caruso…
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It’s launched!
On Sunday I released my second novel. I decided to throw a small launch party for it. Here are a couple of photos from the day courtesy of Stuart. I would like to thank everyone who came along, and everyone who bought a copy of the book. I was very nervous about it, but I…
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Pre-order ‘Discovering the Franklins’
I’m super excited to announce that my second novel, Discovering the Franklins, is now available to pre-order on Amazon and all other relevant sales channels! Over the Christmas break away from my day job I finished the very last edits and I’m ready to show my new baby to the world. I am also having a…
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Goals for 2019
Last Friday I went to a workshop that I found through Meetup.com. I frequently attend Meetup events that have highly variable outcomes – some have been really great and positive, like one group for artists which was really positive and motivating for several months. Other times, like a board game night I went to recently…
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Reflecting on 2018
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house… I was madly cleaning! I have two weeks away from my day job (woo-hoo!) and I usually spend time over the Christmas break doing those jobs around the house I don’t get to normally – like vacuuming the inside of my car, or cleaning the…
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The Australian Dream
after ‘The American Dream’, by Brett Whiteley The brain is a machine susceptible to corruption working away on incomplete data sets The bird builds a nest fills it with eggs, potential life feeds the young on instinct and hope Green and yellow earth flow down to meet the sea intuition and reason fight for primacy…








