Does Your Computer Need an Update?

This post is inspired by Eddie Pinero’s Prove Everyone Wrong Podcast, starting at 23:30 - if you don’t have time to read this through - listen to his podcast instead, then come back. 

My computer usually tells me when there is a new update available for my operating system, but after listening to one of Eddie Pinero’s podcasts recently, I thought I’d check before sitting down to write the draft of this post.

Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash

There was an update. 

Do you think I decided to update my computer first? It would be considered a great procrastination tool. Most of us writers know a thing or two about procrastination - how to do it, when to use it and why we love it.

The answer would be no, I did not update my OS. It’s interesting I find having to update my computer as an annoyingly, inconvenient thing to have to do. Does anyone else feel like this? Maybe it’s because my computer tells me there’s a new update available at a time when I don’t have time to wait twenty to forty-five minutes while it does it’s thing. Maybe because the notification says, Update now and I’m a rebel and don’t like being told what to do. Maybe it’s because I don’t know what the update will do and I don’t see the point. My computer does everything I need it to do. It’s working fine, so does an update really need to be performed now? Surely it can wait for a more convenient time.

Why am I talking about updating the OS on my computer? This is a writing blog, or it's supposed to be.

I know, but please indulge me.

The operating system on your computer is the brains of the operation. The updates it receives gives the computer new information, new tricks and tips to be better at working for you when you need it to. Think of it as a writing course for your computer. 

Why do we do writing course or go to conferences? Social interaction for the introverted writer? Uh, no. Writing courses, conferences, retreats. These things help us gain better knowledge and skills to improve our writing. We all have a passion and talent for writing, but we don’t know everything. Some people are excellent describers, while others are amazing at dialogue. Some have a knack for compelling storylines and I envy those who know their characters like they're best friends.

Photo by Chris Hardy on Unsplash

God did not create us perfect (okay, he did at the beginning, but we are far from perfect now) and that includes our talents. We all have something to learn which will allow us to enhance our writing techniques … mine included. Most writers want their written work to be the best it can be. Some just want to write that one story and feel the accomplishment of having a physical copy in their hand. That’s fantastic. If that’s you - go forth and enjoy. Other writers like myself have many stories vying for their attention and want to be a published author and earn millions of dollars … so why are we not learning from others and gaining more knowledge to make our stories better? God wants us to learn, grow and experience life. That goes for growing our talents too, don’t you think?

But I don’t have the time, you say. I don’t have the money. I have kids that need looking after, I’m not even writing at the moment, blah, blah, blah. Do you know what I hear? Excuses. And don’t think I don’t make them myself. I don’t have the time. I manage a retail store four days a week and anyone who says it’s just a 9-5 job hasn’t managed one before. I’m also studying an Arts Degree online, majoring in Game Design and Animation. I don’t have kids, but I live with two teenagers and that’s enough for me. I’m not writing at the moment, but that’s not a lack of time (I do watch Netflix …) and do you honestly think I have the money for more courses? Ha!

I get it. I understand, but these excuses are just that. Excuses. I have been contemplating the Omega Writers Conference for so long that I have missed the early bird cutoff date. But it’s only another $50.00 you’re paying and that’s just a family takeout meal you could skip …

Excuse 1 - I don’t have the time.

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If you’re like me, you have many, many weeks up your sleeve in annual leave. Take some time off for yourself! No one can do that for you but you. Do two weeks worth of study in one week. That next week is free.

Excuse 2 - I don’t have the money.

How much takeout do you have each week? Uber Eats? Menulog? Door Dash? Do you eat a lot of junk food? What about Netflix? Stan? Amazon Prime? Disney? Binge? How many of these you you have? 1, 2 … 3? 4!? If you cut down your subscriptions, stop eating so much takeaway, and got rid of most of the junk food you eat and started to portion your food so your not eating as much as you do (the body doesn’t need nearly as much as you would think it does), you would actually save hundreds per week.

Excuse 3 - I have kids that need looking after (I don’t, but I’m sure someone does).

Kids? If you have a partner, get him or her to look after them for a few days. No partner? No problem. If your kids have friends or you have family members close by (Auntie’s are the coolest), I’m sure a planned sleepover for a couple nights would make you the best mum or dad ever! Kids love sleepovers, especially if it’s a whole weekend. You could always offer to do the same (I’m sure your kid’s friends, parents would love a weekend off too).

If you have a puppy, get a friend to look after the cutie. I'm sure there is someone who loves your puppy nearly as much as you do and would love to dog-sit for a couple days.

Photo by Kevin Stark on Unsplash

Excuse 4 - I’m not even writing at the moment.

I wonder why. You’re working all the time, studying all the time, kids have you on the ropes and words don’t even exist in your reality at the moment. If you’re not writing at the moment, it’s probably because you’re lost the momentum or the inspiration or both. If you still want writing to be a part of your life and those stories are still ticking away in the back corner of that dusty storage room in your brain, then a conference is the perfect place for you. I know. Sounds stupid. You’re not writing at the moment, so why spend the money to even go there when you won’t use the skills you learn? Because I know from experience that being around people who live and breathe writing helps boost that momentum. Being away from the normal, everyday life you live, boosts inspiration and having that moment to yourself, to do something you love, will get you writing again; even if it’s just for that weekend.

Excuse 5 - Enter your excuse here ...

I'm not proficient enough to answer all your excuses, but click here and listen to, Break Your Negative Thinking | Wake Up Positive podcast by Eddie Pinero. I don't think you'll have any excuses for anything afterwards.

So. No more excuses. Looks like I’m going to the conference.

Photo by Usman Yousaf on Unsplash

If you’re still reading and need a little more of a push in the right direction - listen to Eddie Pinero’s Prove Everyone Wrong Podcast from 23:30 onwards. Then go back and listen to the whole thing. Then put his podcast into your favourites. You won’t be sorry.

Kirsten (aka A.T. Richmond) is a born and bred Territorian who moved to Queensland and had no choice but to stay after her assimilation into the Toowoomba's infamous, collective known as Quirky Quills. Since then, A.T. Richmond has had two short stories published (under K.A. Hart). Stone Bearer, appears in Glimpses of Light and Tedious Tresses, in the As Time Goes By Mixed Blessings anthology. She is currently writing a fantasy trilogy (and has been for a while ...), but no more excuses, right?! Coffee helps.

Writing under a pseudonym

 

You know me as Claire Bell, but you won’t find my books by googling that name. In fact, you would find a number of authors and editors and have difficulty working out if any of them was me. 

I started using the pseudonymic surname ‘Belberg’ eight years ago in anticipation of being published. I set up my author email and started blogging to build an audience familiar with the name. I sent work out in that name if it was fiction or poetry suitable for mainstream audiences. I continued to use my everyday name for anything more personal or overtly Christian. I figured my secular audience would not appreciate getting a faceful of Christian language if they were hunting up some new mainstream work by me. (I realise some Christian writers would disagree with that decision, but that’s a different topic for discussion.) 

The other reason I chose to use a pen name was to add a small barrier to identity for the sake of my family. Since it’s pretty easy to work out the connection between the two names if anyone wanted to, that was probably a pointless line of reasoning. I would have had to work a lot harder to make it a real barrier. 

The name I chose was created to honour both my families – my birth family and the family I married into. I combined the two surnames after checking whether there were any other authors coming up on search engines with the name Belberg. Bingo! A unique name.

 The question I ask myself now: is it worth it? 

I like the name Belberg and its uniqueness. I don’t actually know if anyone has ever googled it but if they did, they would have found me on the first hit, either my blog or one of my novels. 

But promoting my work in the community that knows me gets a bit confusing. I find I have to keep telling people both names, or if they know me well enough, remind them that the book is under a pen name. It would be so much easier if they could just use the name they know. My Facebook identity is in my everyday name and I couldn’t face adding an author page and having another platform to keep up to date. Facebook, the blog and Goodreads are more than enough – and if you follow me on any of them, you’ll see how patchy my ‘keeping up’ is already!

Filling in forms associated with writing (e.g. lending rights, legal deposit, library distribution) can also be a little confusing. Do they want my author name or my legal name when they simply ask for name?

Having a pen name that is close to my everyday name encourages misspelling as one has a double ‘L’ and the other a single ‘L’. No one will be able to find me if they search the pen name with two Ls. Sigh. In fact, what comes up if you do search that is what a lot of people hear when I say ‘Belberg’ – bellbird. Pretty, but not me. It’s a pity when a piece of work is published under the misspelling, but that can happen with a legal name too. I once read dozens of comments to a Facebook post about this. In every English-speaking country, it seems, even simple names like Bell or Smith can get garbled. In my first transaction as a newly married woman giving my name to a salesperson, they spelled it as Belle. Having traded a commonly misspelled name for a simple one, I was flabbergasted and quite disappointed!

If I had a wide audience, I would probably be unequivocally content to use a pen name. For now it seems a bit of a nuisance and a mite pretentious. Maybe the day will come when it will pay off, when readers keenly search for more works by Claire Belberg and bypass all those Bells. Of course, if they're the readers of my devotionals or Christian poetry, they might still find it hard to pick me out of the crowd. I wonder if I should create another pseudonym for those…

What's New from Omega Writers | July 2022

Omega Writers Conference

Today is 18 July, which means the earlybird pricing for the 2022 Omega Writers Conference ends tonight at 11:59pm NSW and Queensland time. Click here to register now to save $50.  Remember, members get a discount on their conference registration fee. You can find the discount code in the members-only section of the website.

 

Conference Bookshop

One of the best/worst features of conference is the bookshop.

Best, because it's your opportunity to stock up on books by fellow Australian and New Zealand Christian writers, and to get them autographed. 

Worst, because I take no responsibility for the state of your bank account after you've visited the bookshop. The bookshop accepts cash, debit, and credit cards.

   

For those of you who have booked a seat-only flight to conference, don't worry. The bookshop will post your purchases anywhere in Australia for $12.95, with no limit on order size. (Because you really do need all the books. Honest.) The bookshop will be run by Rowena Beresford of Novella Distribution. If you'd like your books to be available for sale at the bookshop, click here and complete the form.

Please note that only authors who have pre-registered with Novella Distribution will be able to sell books at the conference.

You will not be able to bring your own books to sell.

Promotion Opportunities

Are you an author, editor, publisher, cover designer, formater, or anyone else who provides services to writers? If so, we have two promotion opportunities for you:

• Include your business card, bookmark, brochure or other writer swag in the conference showbag for AUD 50 (plan to provide a minimum of 70)
• Sign up for a display table for AUD 150

Omega Writers reserves the right to reject any applications if the content is deemed inappropriate for delegates. Click here to apply.

Hub Appointments

If you're interested in booking a one-on-one Hub appointment with any of our visiting publishing professionals, book now. Several participants have only two appointments left. 

Click here to find out more about the Hub and the participating publishing professionals. 

Click here to book your Hub appointments. 

 Note that all Hub appointments are only available to in-person conference attendees (even the Zoom appointments). If you've already booked to attend conference, you can still book a Hub appointment separately. If you haven't booked to attend conference ... book now :) 

For those wondering about booking an appointment with me (Iola Goulton): I have booked to come to conference, and plan to be there in-person (and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again!). However, I'm coming from New Zealand, so my attendance will depend on me staying well and there being no NZ/Australian travel restrictions in early October.

Feedback to Unpublished CALEB Entrants

I had planned to get the feedback out before now, but the day job keeps getting in the way. I am sorry. I haven't forgotten, and I will get the feedback out as soon as I can.

CALEB Finalists

Thanks to those CALEB finalists who have sent through their photograph, bio, and address details. I look forward to receiving the rest soon.

Talking books – Listen up! by Ruth Bonetti

Word is out that audio books are hot sellers. (Tell me, is it so?) 

Word is out that, like bookshops, Amazon Audible shun small fry accounts. Authors should enlist a third party company to fast track. 

So I outlaid. Speak Out-Don’t Freak Out joined the clamour of audio books. But last week, I realised my audio book had become Phantom of the Audible. Terse phone calls and emails resulted in links to other sites while the go-between negotiates with Amazon Audible to reinstate.

Listen Up and Speak Out!

A lightbulb moment brightened recent gloom. With time on my hands, experience of speaking, of training and coaching speakers to confident performance polish and even the book (but sorry, no T-shirt)... 

Why not narrate my own books? 

Cue self-sabotage...

I'm a bear of limited tech brain. 

But, aha! I know a savant who revels in such. Musician colleague and former student Kathy is paying off the Classical clarinet I no longer play. She has some time on her hands and welcomes a project. Hear her on Soundcloud, a site she led me to. Rather than borrow her kind offer of tools of trade equipment, we went to an audio shop and I bought the most user-friendly device possible, a Zoom TN1. Too easy!

The mic sports a “dead cat” to block extraneous noise, so I can record out on my deck. I begin narrating Burn my Letters, the first book of the Midnight Sun to Southern Cross trilogy. 

Cue a Molotov cocktail of self-sabotage, frustration and reality check

Have I bitten off an elephant of words! Perhaps it's enough to narrate a chapter of each book as PR teasers? 

And what to do with male Swedish voices who predominate in the book? Its main protagonist hero is a Finland-Swede, and my book includes magical realism conversations with him. I begin to regret this clever trick which enables me to go inside heads and explore motives. 

Northern Light and Sound

Email a friend of 50-years with decades' experience as a music journalist with Swedish Radio. Now retired, he has time on his hands. Professional but humble, Carl (“Calle”) sounds caution. Any mispronounced colloquial words would shriek unprofessional. Feel free to ask another friend of 50 years. But hear Calle in this narration, round 3'40". after an intro précis) reading lines from Kalevela. What say you? 

Email Jan Westerlund, a flautist with whom I performed in Regionmusiken 50 years ago (see pp 47-46 of Burn My Letters). He's interested. 

Sound circles around the globe

So my team consists of two Swedes and we two who live streets away in Brisbane. After recording takes, I drop the SD card into Kathy’s letterbox, she edits and uploads. 

LISTEN UP! Enjoy our team work Introduction and Chapter 1 of Burn My Letters 

It includes an excerpt of Grandad's 1960s radio interview 2'30".

 

Opportunity: Do you dream of your own titles morphing into audio books? Would a teaser audio chapter boost your book sales? As I finesse my narrative skills and eventually learn editing expertise (meanwhile supported by Kathy's brilliant savvy) I'll offer these to other authors. Contact me if my voice suits your book. 

You, too, could enter a new genre, the talking book.

RUTH BONETTI is author/editor of a dozen publications, firstly in her primary field of music and performance. Her passion is a heritage trilogy Midnight Sun to Southern Cross, of which Burn My Letters won the Omega Writers Nonfiction CALEB award in 2017. 

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Ruth channels Karl Johan's Facebook page

Ruth's occasional blog

Order autographed copies of Ruth's books

Thank you for reviews on Goodreads.  They're gold to authors who hate blowing their own trumpets. Though this one is so excited by her new foray into tech, please forgive the many links!