Omega Writers | There We Were, Together!

 

By Jen Richards

The 2023 Omega Writers online retreat was a fantastic time of togetherness for Australia’s Christian Writers Network.

The 2023 Annual General Meeting…

The retreat started on Friday night with the 2023 Omega Writers AGM, where members gained updates on the business side of the network. President Penny Reeve announced she was stepping down midterm, which was a great loss to the network.

Thankfully, Meredith Resce is willing to step in as interim president, bringing with her a wealth of experience and a passion for supporting Christian writers, while the committee searches for someone to formally fill the position.

Members were treated to a walk-through of the brand new Omega Writers website by Cecily Paterson, who pointed out the exciting new exclusive members content. For those who were keen to kick on after the meeting, committee member Karen Roper ran a fun game of Scattergories.

A day of deep learning

The main part of the retreat began on Saturday morning when around 60 writers from across the country joined together via zoom for learning and encouragement. First up, participants broke into genre groups to get to know each other a little better, before hearing our keynote speaker Rosanna M White. Rosanna spoke on the importance of reading and living with authenticity and self-reflection so that we can inject that into our writing and ultimately write deeply and move readers with truth. Her talk would set the tone for the rest of the day.

In the second session, Meredith Resce and Tamara Wenham spoke on Christian writing in a post-Christian world. They explore the big picture of western culture and the role that a Christian voice has played in that over the last 2000 years.

After lunch, Meredith chaired a session on Hopes, Dreams, Expectations and Disappointments where she invited other writers, editors, and agents to talk about approaching the inevitable ups and downs of the writing life as Christians. The learning part of the day closed with a devotion from Karen Roper and genre groups.

In the evening, Iola Goulton presented the 2023 Caleb Awards. It was thrilling to see so many friends, new and old, learning, connecting and celebrating together across the day.

Thank you to the extraordinary team behind the scenes who made the day run smoothly and especially to Tamara Wenham who balanced calm, professional planning with the excitement of being nominated for the CALEB. Thanks to the work of tireless volunteers, Australia’s Christian Writers Network is going from strength to strength!

Save the date for 2024

A few years ago, the Omega Writers committee made the decision to move from yearly in-person conferences to having an in-person conference in even years, supplemented by an online retreat in odd ones. This approach allows us to hold a highly professional in-person conference but still provides an opportunity for interactive learning for writers at all points of the writing journey.

To that end Carolyn Miller introduced the 2024 Omega Writers conference.
Emerge: Connect, equip, inspire

Dates: Friday 20 to Sunday 22 September, 2024

The Metro Hotel, Newport | Sydney

Keynote speaker: Susan May Warren

Register your expression of interest and get early updates here.

2021 Omega Writers Retreat

By Iola Goulton

As we all know, the 2020 Omega Writer’s Conference was cancelled as we all experienced the joys of working and schooling from home. Restrictions to international travel mean we can’t hold our conference as planned this year either.

But we know everyone is keen to meet in person and spend quality writing time together. Instead of a full conference, the conference committee have been hard at work, planning a weekend retreat from 8 to 10 October 2021.

The retreat will be held at the Peppers Salt Resort & Spa, Kingscliff, New South Wales, which is about twenty minutes from Coolangatta Airport. Attendees can choose to stay at Peppers, next door at the Mantra, or at other accommodation in the area.

Click here (https://www.omegawriters.org/conference/) for more details on the venue and to download an accommodation booking form. Peppers and Mantra are both offering great rates for the retreat dates, and for two days before and after the retreat.

The conference committee are currently hard at work developing a retreat programme and finalising costing. Registration will open in June, so watch this space for more details.

CALEB Award

The entries in the 2021 CALEB Awards are now in the hands and ereaders of our judges, and the scores are trickling in. The deadline for judging first-round entries is Friday 18 June, and we are planning to announce the finalists on 28 June.

Winners will be announced on 9 October 2021 at the Omega Writer’s Retreat.

Picture Book judges: your entries are now in the hands of Australia Post. Please let me (Iola Goulton) know if you haven’t received them by Friday.

Stories of Life

Omega Writers are proud to sponsor the 2021 Stories of Life competition.

This year’s theme is telling a faith-filled story. Tell your stories of life that point to evidence of God’s reality, and a time and place when you witnessed God’s grace in action.

Click here (www.storiesoflife.net) find out more about the 2021 Stories of Life contest. 

Entry to the Youth category (writers aged 17 and under) is free, and entry to the Open and Short categories is AUD 10 per entry. The top three entries in each category will win a one-year membership to Omega Writers, and there are additional prizes for the winners of the Open and Short categories.

Omega Writers | Making a Plan for 2021

By Iola Goulton

It’s a new year, and for many of us that means New Year’s Resolutions and planning for the upcoming year.

I recently listened to an episode of the Novel Marketing Podcast, where host Thomas Umstattd Jr and guest James L Rubart were talking about planning in a military context. If an operation is executed as planned, why have a plan in the first place? 

 Because having a plan is evidence that you had an objective and worked towards that objective, whether you succeeded or not. 

In a military context, having a plan shows you thought about your campaign objective, of how many troops would be required, how you would get those troops to where they needed to be, how you would feed and house them, and what they would need to do when they got there.

The military execute their plan, then review that execution against plan.

• What went as planned?
• What didn’t?
• Why or why not?
• How can they improve the plan to improve execution?

We can do the same for our plans aka New Years’ resolutions. Okay, so a lot of our plans for 2020 didn’t happen at all for reasons outside our control (Exhibit A: the 2020 Omega Writers Conference). Some of our plans had to change (Exhibit B: the 2020 Omega Writers CALEB Awards). But there were several other plans I had which didn’t come to fruition either (Exhibit C: write a novel and lose ten kilos).

That’s normal for New Year’s resolutions, right?

Why do we continue to make New Year’s resolutions when we don’t truly believe we’re going to achieve those goals? Why do we set ourselves up to fail? 

 Perhaps the answer comes back to the military example. The point of the plan isn’t to achieve the plan. The point of the plan was to show not just that we had a mission or a goal, but that we also had a plan, a considered step-by-step approach to follow that would move us closer to achieving that goal. 

Perhaps the point of the plan isn’t whether or not we meet our goals, but the process of thoughtfully and prayerfully considering what we believe God is calling us towards and how we’re going to achieve that. 

• What steps is God asking us to take this year?
• What do we want to achieve this year?
• How can we translate the goal or achievement into a practical and doable plan?
• What might we have to do differently to work the plan?

For example, I buy a new diary every year. I choose a diary that has three views:

• A week-to-view for organising my day-to-day work and home life.
• A month-to-view page where I plan my blogging schedule.
• A year-at a glance where I (in theory) record big picture things like daily word count goals.

My 2021 planner is a little different.

As well as the usual three views, it has eight pages for planning goals for the year, and another twelve pages for monthly goals. Each annual goal has space to plan specific tasks that will move me closer to achieving the goal. These tasks can then be copied to the monthly and weekly planning ages to help get things done. 

For example, I can show you my goal statement from three or four years ago where I met exactly zero of my goals. I think the reason was there were goals with no plan, no list of step-by-step tasks that would result in me achieving an overall goal.

Let’s take weight loss as an example.

There is no way anyone can lose ten kilos in a week short of having a limb amputated. Instead, we lose weight a bit over time—losing a quarter of a kilo a week will get us to that ten-kilo goal with a couple of months to spare. But even that quarter of a kilo isn’t going to happen unless we plan how we’re going to lose that weight.

• Are we going to eat less/better, exercise more, or both?
• How are we going to change our eating and shopping habits to eat less or eat better?
• How are we going to change our daily or weekly schedule to exercise more?

The same goes for goals like writing a book or creating a website or building a social media following. We don’t write a book or build thousands of social media followers in a day. Our goals should reflect that.

Instead of saying we’re going to write a book, we should say we’re going to write 500 words a day or edit for half an hour a day, and plan how we’re going to fit that into our schedule.

Penny Reeve, President of Omega Writers, touched on this in her last author newsletter. She asked five questions to consider in planning our writing for 2021. The one that hit home to me was this:

What has held me back this year?

This one's a little more reflective. It requires us to be honest - really honest. It's too easy to poke the finger and blame circumstance (or COVID, or...) but what has really stopped you writing? Once you identify what it is, spend some time with your planner/diary for the new year and consider how you may be able to address these road blocks practically and realistically. And then put these plans in place.

So today I leave you with Penny’s challenge:

Spend some time with God and your 2021 diary. Prayerfully and practically plan* how you can address roadblocks and achieve the small daily or weekly steps that will move you closer to meeting your goal.

(And don't forget to plan for entering and/or judging the 2021 CALEB Award, and attending the 2021 Omega Writers conference.)

Exploring Genre | 2019 Roundup and Master List

We've come to the end of another year of genre crossposts between Australasian Christian Writers and Christian Writers Downunder, so it's time for one final summary post.

Jeanette O'Hagan kicked off 2019 with an excellent roundup of all our previous posts.

We then moved into some exploring more genres in fiction, from well-known Westerns to newer genres like slipstream.

Jessica Kate discussed romantic comedy—the history, some writing tips, and recommendations of her favourite Christian rom-com authors.

Amanda Deed and Jeanette O'Hagan discussed fairytale retellings, which can fall into the romance genre (because every good fairytale ends with a wedding) but also have elements of fantasy.

Christine Dillon discussed women's fiction—issues-based fiction that's not just for women (and which may or may not have a romantic thread).

Roger Norris-Green discussed his prolific career writing Westerns, where the hero is a good man (or a man who is changing for the better), who treats women properly, and who always gets the girl.

Jeanette O'Hagan explored the history of dystopian fiction, and current trends in the genre in the Christian and general markets (and it's interesting how even general market dystopian often has a religious underpinning).

David Rawlings introduced us to slipstream, an elusive mix of fantasy and literary fiction, set mostly in world we know, but introducing speculative elements.

We then moved into nonfiction.

Anusha Atukorala shared an excellent post on writing devotionals, with plenty of links to some great resources.

Cecily Patterson discussed why she loves reading memoir, types of memoirs, and three tips for those writing memoir.

David Malcolm Bennett discussed writing biography, a genre that appeals to him because of his love of history.

We're currently discussing what we'll cover in 2020.

Quick Links

Meanwhile, here are quick links to all our genre posts:

Why Genre Matters by Iola Goulton 
Genre and Marketing by Iola Goulton 

Collaborative Writing by Jeanette O'Hagan 

Fiction

Short fiction: flash fiction to novellas by Jeanette O'Hagan 

Biblical Fiction by Susan Preston 

Dystopian by Jeanette O'Hagan 

Fantasy: Secondary World and Portal Fantasy by Jeanette O'Hagan
Fantasy: Steampunk and Gaslight by Alison Stegert 

Mystery and Suspense: Introduction by Virginia Smith 
Mystery: Crime Mystery 

Romance by Iola Goulton 
Romance: Novellas and novelettes by Narelle Atkins 
Romance: Regency and Historical romance by Carolyn Miller 
Romance: Rural and Medical Romance by Nicki Edwards 
Romance: Romantic Comedy by Jessica Kate 

Romance: Fairytale retellings by Amanda Deed and Jeanette O'Hagan 

Speculative Fiction by Iola Goulton
Science Fiction: Space Opera by Adam David Collings
Supernatural Fiction by Ian Acheson 

Suspense: Writing Tips by Sandra Orchard

Westerns by Roger Norris-Green 

Women's fiction by Christine Dillon 

Nonfiction

Creative Nonfiction by Nola Passmore 
Biography by David Bennett 
Memoir by Cecily Patterson

Poetry: Introduction by Valerie Volk 
Poetry: Free verse and Verse novels by Jeanette O'Hagan 

Devotionals by Anusha Atukorala 

Books by Age Range

Picture Books and Chapter Books by Penny Reeve 
Young Adult Fiction by Cecily Patterson 
New Adult Fiction by Jeanette O'Hagan

CWD Member Interview – Jessica Kate

Most Thursdays in 2019 we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today’s interview: Jessica Kate

Question 1: Tell us three things about who you are and where you come from. 

• I am passionate about romantic comedies, apple pastries and theme parks. 
• My parents are basically The Man From Snowy River married to a beach babe. 😊 I grew up in a couple of different locations, mostly across rural Australia, as my parents compromised on their vastly different preferences for where to live. 
• I try to keep fit by going to boxing training. I have mediocre success. 

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc).  What do you write and why?

I write romantic comedies with a hearty side dish of drama! Some of my favourite movies include Sweet Home Alabama, The Proposal and Admission. The enemies-to-lovers trope is my FAVOURITE for a few reasons:

• It gives the characters a chance to display loyalty despite their differences, which is a character trait I really value
• It allows the characters to be more honest with each other, because they’re not keeping up a façade
• It’s straight-up hilarious.

I’m planning a StoryNerds podcast episode where I delve into this in TREMENDOUSLY nerdy detail. I love nerding out over fiction!

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it?

It was amazing to have Love and Other Mistakes endorsed by Rachel Hauck, Melissa Tagg, Rachel McMillan and David Rawlings. 

I love the work of Jenny B Jones, so if I ever got an endorsement from her I’d be over the moon!

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

Discouragement is definitely my biggest challenge. Dealing with that has involved God really teaching me how to rely on Him, getting some better coping strategies from a psychologist and learning when and how to take breaks and fall back in love with stories!

And my process? It’s always evolving. I love listening to podcasts like The Writers Panel and Scriptnotes and hearing about other writers’ processes and pinching the parts that sound good.

For instance, I used to brainstorm my book out by just typing these long, endless notes into Scrivener, but I’ve just switched to using index cards. It’s way easier to go back and find relevant info and also frees your brain up to pursue different ideas and not get stuck on one track. For example, I’ll label a card ‘meet cute’, and then brainstorm ten different ways that could happen. I never used to do that just typing into Word or Evernote or Scrivener. 

I’ve spent much of the past 2 years editing drafts of novels I’d already written, so it’s been a while since I tackled a brand new book! I’ve learned so much in that time, it’s going to be interesting to see how my process keeps evolving. 

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why? 

Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Mernitt. I love that it delves into the history of the genre and breaks down what made those stand-out movies so great, all from the perspective of just giving the audience a great time. 

Entertaining the heck out of readers has always been my goal. I identify more strongly with screenwriters than more literary writers or poets, so this book has a lot of insights that I apply to novel writing.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

I enjoy Kara Isaac’s stories and Iola Goulton has been an amazing editor and critique partner!

Question 7: What are your writing goals for 2019/2020? How will you achieve them?

It’d be amazing if I could ‘earn out’ on my recently released debut Love and Other Mistakes and my upcoming A Girl’s Guide to the Outback, and I’d love to write a third book with my publisher! 

My main marketing goal is to double my newsletter mailing list. I hope to do that by cross-promoting with other authors, doing (but not overdoing) the occasional giveaway, maintaining an engaging presence on social media, updating the reader magnets on my newsletter (free ‘sassy shorts’ and a book sample) and working with some specific book bloggers. 

Plus, I hope to really engage readers through the StoryNerds podcast, which I co-host with Hannah Davis. It’s a place where we can nerd out over fiction we all love, which is super fun to do.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

Basically I write Christian fiction because every time I dig into what my characters really need, the answer ties back into God somehow. Placing your identity in God, trusting God, surrendering to God…etc. I love getting the chance to share that in the story – and to learn some lessons myself, too!

___________________________________

Australian author Jessica Kate is obsessed with sassy romances. 

She packs her novels with love, hate, and everything in between—and then nerds out over her favorite books, movies and TV in the StoryNerds podcast. When she’s not writing or discussing fiction, she’s hunting the world for the greatest pasta in existence.

Her debut novel Love and Other Mistakes releases July 2019, while A Girl’s Guide to the Outback hits shelves in January 2020.

Receive her sassy short The Kiss Dare FREE when you sign up for her newsletter at jessicakatewriting.com. 

Book links

Love and Other Mistakes – https://books2read.com/u/3L06gJ

A Girl’s Guide to the Outback – https://books2read.com/u/b570Dl

Social media

Facebook and Instagram: Jessica Kate Writing

StoryNerds podcast – Nerd out with us over books, tv and movies! Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and at www.storynerds.podbean.com. 

Exploring Genre - Round Up

by Jeanette O'Hagan @JeanetteOHagan

In 2019, we are continuing the tradition of a cross-post between Christian Writers Downunder (CWD) and Australasian Christian Writers (ACW), with more forays into the different genres. You may wonder if, after two years, there are any more genres to explore. Well, yes, there are. In fact we haven't come close to covering them all. But before we launch into some more examples, I will give a round up of the ground we have already covered. This post can be used as a quick reference and handy resource on different genres.

What is Genre?

Literary Genre is a particular type or style of story which may be defined by style, tone, content and even length. Basically, genres define creative innovations and reader expectations that have developed over time with broader categories (fiction, non-fiction, or prose, drama, poetry, media), to larger families (e.g. romance, science fiction, fantasy, crime etc) and more narrowed or specialised categories (sweet romance or cosy mysteries or spaghetti westerns).

Why should I care about Genre?

Iola discusses why genre matters
- it  helps manage readers expectations and it also helps market books to our readers. Read more here and here.

When you are starting out, it is often a good idea (at least at first) to just write and learn the craft and worry about genre later.  This is especially true if writing is a hobby or release or therapy.

However, if at some point you wish to publish your writing and attract readers, understanding genre can also help you hone how you write or maybe help decide which aspects of the story to emphasise or which project to focus on (if you have more than one project on the go).  It can also inspire ideas.

Some genres have more defined expectations than others (e.g. category romance or CBA Christian Fiction), while others are more open to experimentation and cross-overs between genres (e.g. Young Adult fiction or Science Fiction).

Knowing your genre and your readers' expectations helps in both writing and in attracting a readership to your writing. Having an idea about Genre Trends can also be helpful.

Jeanette O'Hagan discusses Genre Trends (for 2018) here.

What Genres Are There?

Genres range across the broad categories like Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Children's Books and Young Adult etc.

Fiction

The major fiction genres are Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Crime, Historical, Contemporary Drama and Literary.  Each broad genre often has a swag of sub-genres and some sub-genres may cross-over e.g. Romantic suspense includes elements of romance and suspense novels. Or a time-travel novel may be Science Fiction or Fantasy or even Science Fantasy.

Romance

This is a hugely popular genre with a large audience of avid readers.

While romance can often be a subplot or theme in a range of other genres, in category romance the focus is on the relationship and the obstacles to the relationship between the hero and heroine or romantic couple with an expected Happily Ever After (HEA).

There are a wide range of sub-genres with romance.

Carolyn Miller introduced us to historical romance (romance set before the present day) and in particular regency romance - romance inspired by Jane Austen and set in or around the regency period - e.g. early 19th century. You can find her delightful post here.

Nicky Edwards took us on a tour of rural romance (set in the country) and medical romance (with nurses or doctors as protagonists and which includes medical drama), usually set in contemporary times. You can read more here.

Romance can also include contemporary romance, paranormal romance, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, sweet or clean romance, or other more racy sub-genres.

Speculative Fiction

Speculative Fiction imagines a different reality - whether that be a variation of earth as we know it or different world altogether. It is generally divided into Science Fiction (where science or a imagined science explains the world) or Fantasy (in which a non-scientific - often supernatural - explanation is given), though these can cross-overs such as science fantasy and other mixtures.

There is easily over 100 sub-genres within this field - including crazy mash-ups like gaslamp fantasy or weird west.

Science Fiction

Adam Collings introduced us to Space Opera - epic Science Fiction set in space with a focus more on the story than a detailed or hard science - think Star Trek or Doctor Who. And, also the Superhero sub-genre which can used a scientific (e.g. Superman) or a supernatural (e.g. Thor) explanation for the special powers. Read more here.

Fantasy

Jeanette O'Hagan introduced Secondary World and Portal fantasy - both of which are set on an alternative (non-earth) world. In the first the world exists without reference to earth, whereas in the second, the protagonist travels through a door or portal to the other world. Read more here.

Other Speculative 

Alison Stegert explores the difference between Steam Punk and Gaslight fiction - both of which are inspired by the Victorian age of steam and Victorian science fiction writers such as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. Steam Punk tends focus more on the science fiction aspects, while Gaslight has a more paranormal vibe. Read more here. 

Ian Acheson introduced us to Supernatural Fiction - which focuses on supernatural beings such angels, demons and/or ghosts (and is related to paranormal and urban fantasy). It can have a faith or Christian focus or be more 'secular' in its approach. Read more here.

Other speculative sub-genres include fairy tale retellings and fractured fairy tales, paranormal, urban fantasy, horror, dystopian, cyber-punk, cli-fi, solar punk, time travel, grim-dark or noble-bright etc.

Mystery and Crime

Mystery

Donna Fletcher Crow discusses crime mystery, in particular historical crime mystery such as medieval crime mystery here. 

Virginia Smith explores the different kinds of mystery novel from cosy, police procedural, private eye, etc. here. 

Other forms of mystery can be hard-boiled, noir, paranormal or even as specific as Scandinavian Noir.

Suspense

Suspense can be part of a straight thriller or mystery/crime novel or can involve romance as a major subplot in romantic suspense (where danger forms a backdrop to the romance).

Sandra Orchard discusses the elements of suspense here. 


Other significant fiction genres include Historical Fiction, Contemporary Drama, and Literary Fiction

Christian Fiction

Christian Fiction can be understood in different ways. For some, it can be any fiction written by a Christian, for others it has a much more defined and strict definition with overt Christian content such as bible verses, prayer, mentions of Jesus, conversion scenes and the absence of graphic sex, violence and strong language. Somewhere in the middle, others would include books that may have less overt religious content but are written from a Christian worldview, contain Christian values and themes, and include pointers to faith, but which would still be appropriate for a general market. See here and  here for more discussions.

Christian fiction can include the majority of the other genres we've covered, such as romance, mystery, historical, science fiction, fantasy etc.

More specific Christian fiction has subgenres such as Christian supernatural fiction (see Ian Acheson's post above), Biblical fiction and Christian allegory (like Pilgrim's Progress).

Biblical Fiction

Biblical Fiction re-imagines the characters and stories we find in the Bible, often filling in the gaps and fleshing out the historical setting.  While Biblical Fiction can be written from a non-Christian perspective, Christian Biblical fiction is true to the tenets of Christian faith and the Bible itself.

Susan Preston discusses Biblical Fiction here.

Non-Fiction

Nola Passmore introduced us to creative non-fiction (and how that differs from reportage). Read more here.

Non-Fiction can include historical works, memoir and biography as well as self-help books, devotionals, theological works, text books or informational books, books of essays, coffee table books, cookbooks  etc.

Poetry

Poetry can be non-fiction or fiction or a mixture of the two, it can be strongly narrative (ballads, for instance) or focus on a moment or a feeling or an image or be metaphorical or evoke shared feelings and realities.

Valerie Volk gave a wonderful introduction to Poetry (here) 

Jeanette O'Hagan explored Free Verse (poetry without a set rhyme) and Verse Novels (telling a narrative in verse) (read more here).

Targeted by Age and/or Gender

Children and Teens

Penny Reeve introduces us to the difference between picture books and chapter books in younger readers. Read more here.

Cecily Anne Paterson discuses writing for Young Adult or Teen readers (generally from thirteen to nineteen years of age). Read more here. 

New Adults

New Adult Fiction is a more recent category, ranging from nineteen to twenty-five year olds (or up to thirty), generally school leavers starting university or work, living away from parents, forging new relationships, learning what it means to live independently.  Read more here.

For middle-aged and older readers

Various 'lits' may target these age groups, usually with a humorous or even farcical tone. For instance 'chic-lit', then there is 'hen-lit' or 'nana-lit' targeting women of different age groups (thirty-somethings, middle-aged, older women). Women's Fiction tends to be more serious - and maybe more 'literary'.

Westerns and Military fiction (and non-fiction) may be primarily targeted to male readers.

Humour

Both fiction and non-fiction may be written with a primary focus on humour, whether witty and dry, or more slapstick in style, or farcical or satire.

Length and format categories

Shorts

Jeanette O'Hagan looked at 'short fiction' from flash to novellas (though it could also be non-fiction). Read more here.

Narelle Atkins explores novellas and novelettes in the romance genre here.

Collaborative Writing

Jeanette O'Hagan explores ways that writers can collaborate and that is in the actual writing itself in collaborative works such as ghost-writing, partnerships, anthologies and more. Read more here.

Where to next?

Being presented with the different categories and genres can be as overwhelming as looking at the different brands in the supermarket. Too much choice. On the other hand, it can be seen as freeing, for there is really something for everyone and opportunities for cross-overs and mash-ups.

Tell us - what genres (or sub-genres) do you love to read?  Which do you write in?  Which would you like to learn more about?

----

Jeanette started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic users.

She has published numerous short stories, poems, three novellas (Heart of the Mountain, Blood Crystal and Stone of the Sea) in her Under the Mountain series and her debut novel, Akrad's Children and Ruhanna's Flight and other stories. She has short stories and poems in seventeen anthologies and was thrilled that her story, Wolf Scout, was recently accepted for the upcoming Inklings Press anthology, Tales of Magic and Destiny.

Her latest release, Shadow Crystals (the fourth novella) will soon be available on preorder.

You can also find her on:

Facebook |Jeanette O'Hagan Writes | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

CWD Member Interview - Iola Goulton

Each Thursday in 2018 we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals. Today we're interviewing Iola Goulton.

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from.

My name is Iola Goulton, which is pronounced yo-la (not eye-ola). It's a Welsh name and means "valued by the Lord". I think that's a great reminder to me, and to all of us.

I was born in Wales - yes, there is a reason for the Welsh name. But my family immigrated to New Zealand when I was a small child, so I consider myself a Kiwi.

I live in Tauranga, which is a small coastal city around an hour from Hobbiton. If anyone ever does one of those around New Zealand cruises, let me know—Tauranga is usually one of the ports of call, and I'd love to take you for coffee (yes, after you've been to Hobbiton).

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc). What do you write and why?

I'm a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction (you can find me at www.christianediting.co.nz).

Why? Because I love reading Christian fiction, and I want to help pre-published authors be the best they can be. Kiwi and Aussie authors can match up with the best in the world (as proved this year, when Kara Isaac won the Romance Writers of American RITA Award for Romance with Religious or Spiritual Elements with her third novel, Then There Was You).

I do also write, but it's mostly book reviews and blog posts (on writing, editing, publishing, and marketing). I did complete a manuscript for a novella as preparation for a Margie Lawson immersion, and that went on to win a 2016 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it?

I publish my book reviews at www.iolagoulton.com, and my editing posts at www.christianediting.co.nz. I'm also a regular guest at The Christian Proofreaders and Editors Network, at Australasian Christian Writers, and International Christian Fiction Writers.

So my work is available to anyone with an internet connection. But who am I writing for? The reviews are for Christian fiction readers (especially romance fans), while my non-fiction is for authors, particularly Christian fiction authors (whether published or pre-published).

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

As an editor, I want my work to be as good as it can be—no misspelled words or unfinished sentences (although I find I'm guilty of both when I re-read old blog posts!).

My basic process for a blog post:

• Come up with an idea and mull on it.
• Write the draft.
• Leave it for a week (ideally longer).
• Revise and edit.
• Spellcheck.
• Proofread.
• Schedule the post, and create a shareable graphic.
• Read six months later and find three glaring errors that weren't there when I proofed the post.
• Sigh and move on.

I also reuse content where possible. For example, I'll update and reshare ACW posts on my own website or vice versa, and I'll take a popular post and shorten it to submit to the Christian PEN (which has a 500-word maximum for posts).

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why?

I can't pick just one!

The books I recommend most often to clients are:

• Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
• Understanding Show, Don't Tell by Janice Hardy
• Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson
• Structuring Your Novel by KM Weiland
• Story Genius by Lisa Cron

I'm also a big fan of Margie Lawson's courses.

These cover all the basics of writing, revising, and editing. Then it's just (just!) a case of BISFOK (bottom in seat, fingers on keyboard).

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

The CWD admins, especially Jeanette O'Hagan. As an admin for Australasian Christian Writers and International Christian Fiction Writers I know how much work goes in behind the scenes of a blog like this. It's a lot more work than people think.

Paula Vince, for reaching out to me after I reviewed one of her books on Amazon and inviting me to be a part of the trans-Tasman writing community.

Rochelle Manners of Rhiza Press for inviting me to my first writing conference, and encouraging me as an editor by asking me to edit for her, and recommending me to her authors.

And all the members of the many online and offline writing groups I'm part of. You all inspire me at different times and in different ways.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for 2018? How will you achieve them?

Well, it's almost the end of 2018, so I'll say how I've done instead! I had wanted to get back into writing fiction, but that hasn't happened (yet. There's still a couple of months ...)

In terms of non-fiction, I wanted to post weekly on my blog, and produce a regular monthly newsletter. I've achieved that, along with regular posts at Australasian Christian Writers, and two guest posts at Bad RedHead Media. I was also thrilled to be a Featured Blogger at Joel Friedlander's Carnival of the Indies with this post: A (Not So) Brief History of Fake Reviews.

I've also managed to keep to a regular schedule on my review blog. I have missed a couple of dates - sometimes it's so much easier to read the books than write the reviews!

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

I have been a Christian since I was about seven and my best friend lead me through the Sinner's Prayer one Thursday morning after Bible in Schools. Even as a child growing up in a non-Christian home it seemed obvious to me that there was a Creator, so it wasn't difficult to believe that was the God of the Bible, and that Jesus was the way to Him. I'm an introvert, so I'm not the type to stand on street corners and shout that at people, so I do what I can to point to Him through my writing and editing.

I write and edit for the Christian community for two reasons: I want to help build Christian writers and the Christian writing community to share the gospel and build up others, and I don't want to be forced to read or edit content that contradicts the Christian world view. I don't limit myself to only editing Christian works, but I don't want to edit anything that actively promotes an anti-Christian view. Fortunately, my chosen business name puts off those people who aren't my target clients :)

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, works as a freelance editor, and has developed the Kick-Start Your Author Platform Marketing Challenge, an email course for authors wanting to establish their online platform.

When she’s not working, Iola is usually reading or writing her next book review. Iola lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty in New Zealand (not far from Hobbiton) with her husband, two teenagers and one cat. She is currently working on her first novel.

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Meet Our Members: Christine Dillon

Each Thursday in 2018 we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today interview Christine Dillon

Question 1: Tell us three things about who you are and where you come from.

Although born in Australia, I went off to Asia when I was two months old. My parents worked in Taiwan until I was seventeen. I did most of my schooling in Malaysia and the Philippines and returned to Sydney for my final two years.

After studying physiotherapy and working for a few years I attended Sydney Missionary and Bible College. Those were two of the best years of my life. In 1999, I returned to Taiwan with OMF where I have the best job in the world as a Bible storyteller and part of a church planting team.

Question 2: Tell us about your writing.  What do you write and why?

The non-fiction came out of my daily life and training of others. 1-2-1 discipleship (Christian Focus, 2009) and then Telling the Gospel Through Story: Evangelism that keeps hearers wanting more (IVP, 2012). I wrote about discipleship because people kept preaching the ‘make disciples’ passage (Matthew 28:16-20) but didn’t tell me how to get started in a way I could understand. The storytelling book was written out of an excitement at what an amazing tool it is. Both books were written to allow me to reach a wider audience with what I was learning.

I never expected to write fiction and God really had to force me to do it. I knew it was going to be a hard slog and I was right. My first novel took me four and a half years. Fiction allows me to deal with issues that those I disciple struggle with but in a different format - a story package that challenges the way they see the world. I hope it is ‘life changing’ and inspires them to follow Jesus more.

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it?

The non-fiction has been read by anyone who wants to meet up with another believer one to one in order to grow in a maturity or for anyone wishing they knew how to tell their friends about Jesus. Storytelling is a method that increases the likelihood that non-Christians will become hungry for more. Of course, it also challenges and teaches believers. It is no surprise that ‘Jesus never said anything without a story’ (Mark 4:34).

Officially my novel is ‘women’s fiction’ which means that the book is focussed on the daily issues that women face and that romance isn’t the primary focus. Think Francine Rivers and Deborah Raney. However, I have been greatly encouraged at the number of men and teenagers (from age twelve) who have read it and enjoyed it.

Grace in Strange Disguise looks at the issue of ‘what is God there for?’ We know people disappoint us but what happens when God does too?

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

Non-fiction is relatively easy for me because I’m an ISTJ and so organisation is my middle name. I brainstorm all the topics I want to cover in the book and then organise them into a logical flow. Then I just start writing. I’m helped too that most of the content of my non-fiction has been taught to others first.

With the novel, I started with the ‘Snowflake Method’. It was something I found online that made sense and broke the planning process into small bites. Good for a beginner. But towards the end of the editing process I was introduced to Story Genius by Lisa Cron. I went back immediately and did her planning writing segments. Some of them made it into the finished book. I now always start with the four scenes she suggests you write for each character.

The rest of the process? For novel two I had two main characters so I bought two sets of index cards (small) in pink and green. On each card I’d write an idea for a scene. Then I got a cork board and worked out a logical flow and added any missing cards. Then I wrote (not always in order), using Scrivener. Scrivener has some marvellous features including a daily word count that you can set the target. Eventually I increased that to five thousand words as that was possible in a day if I’d done some thinking beforehand (which I did while swimming).

Once the draft is finished I let it sit and have a few weeks break. Then on to edits. Edits happen over and over but the most useful one is the read through out loud. I record each chapter, as this forces me to keep doing it out loud. My ear is able to catch un-natural dialogue (a weakness of mine) and many other mis-rhythms.

Then beta readers and more edits and finally to the paid editor (s) once it is the best I can make it. The editors have taught me so much (thanks Cecily and Iola). Yes, having two is expensive but I want my books to be the best possible.

Finalising title and cover and proofreading and then on to pre-marketing. It has been so much to learn, especially after I made the decision to go with independent publishing.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why?

At the moment it is Understanding show not tell by Janice Hardy. Cecily recommended it (so I listened). You might not understand all the details but if you simply search for all her ‘red flag’ words like thought, realised, felt, considered, hoped … you can eliminate them. In the process you decrease the narrative distance between the reader and your character (thus increasing deep point of view and allowing the reader to go on the ride with the characters). It was the best $6 I’ve spent so far as immediately afterwards it saved me $1000 on the editing quote I’d had!

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

A tough question but it has to be the editors because without them I’d be sunk (and Joy Lankshear, my cover designer isn’t in CWD). Cecily Paterson, as well as being an excellent YA general market author, also has a speciality in ramping up emotion (or telling you to do so) and writing natural dialogue. She forces me to know my characters and makes sure they’re all distinct. These are my areas of weakness and as almost the completely opposite personality type to me she is always saying, “Stop thinking! Your character should be feeling.”

Iola Goulton is a master of structure and copy editing and many other things. Both these women somehow get me to write much better than I believe is possible.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for 2018? How will you achieve them?

I have a very full-time job and so this year I’ve set aside Saturdays to write and kept myself to it. I turn off the internet and listen to suitable music (classical or Lord of the Rings). My goal is to get the sequel to Grace in Strange Disguise published. I’d also like to complete the planning for book three and even start writing.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

Without it I wouldn’t be writing. The non-fiction directly flows out of my daily ministry and what God has taught me along the way.

I was only willing to write fiction if it was aiming to be ‘life changing’. That means that God first ministers to me through the research and writing process. There have been many, many times when I’ve wanted to quit because writing is painfully difficult. Without Jesus it would be impossible.

My faith also informs my marketing and promotion … the values behind what I am happy to do and why. The Holy Spirit is great at yanking me back into line.

Christine Dillon was born in Australia but grew up in Asia. She now works in Taiwan as a Bible storyteller. Her book 'Telling the Gospel Through Story' was voted 2013 Outreach Magazine's Resource of the Year in Evangelism and continues to inspire innovative and engaging Bible storytelling. Believing in the beauty and power of story prompted her jump into fiction. Grace in Strange Disguise was runner-up in the Athanatos Christian Writing Contest. Christine loves reading and keeps sane by cycling, swimming and hiking.

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