PROMOTIONAL VIDEO AND AUTHORS

As I continue on this publishing and marketing ride, it has become apparent that one of the uphill battles that Australian authors face is publicity. Put simply “just getting your book out there” so people can at least make a choice to read your book rather than not even knowing that there is a book about ………[ whatever your subject matter is].

I think if Australians knew that there were Aussie Christian authors then they would make an effort to at least look at the material offered. But this is a common problem it would seem across the entertainment industry in Australia. How do we effectively get the message across that good Aussie Christian authors exist? Aussie authors write in most genres with styles as diverse as the tastes of the reader.

I wonder if the American and international community of Christian writers find it to be as difficult as we do with marketing???

This blog and the ICFW blog has encouraged me to take a closer look at the technology available to us and how we can use it. So thank you to those people who set up both blog sites, I’m learning so much.

Enter technology!!!!! Another medium we should consider are video trailers for our books. I have seen a few of the American authors do this. It is a great idea. The younger generation, watch video clips on YouTube constantly, believe me I know, as I hear peals of laughter emanating from behind closed bedroom doors only to find on investigation that it is the latest soccer clip blooper. This is a medium that engages the X & Y generation instantaneously.

The video programs are free on your computer and they are not too hard to work. But if you are not technologically inclined [like me], I’m sure there will be someone in your family or church who can show you the ropes.

I think these promos would be ideal for fiction and non fiction genres. If you don’t already have usable video material, you could get people you know to dress up and act out scenes, or do a documentary style, take on your non fiction book. It is only limited by your imagination and that is one characteristic that an author usually has plenty of. Then set the clip to music or a narration, this can be done on Movie Maker on your computer.

With the help of my techno husband we have put together a video trailer on YouTube for “Broken Pottery - the life of an African girl”. We faced some obstacles in that I had to trawl through the many VHS tapes of our time in Africa. Then we bought a 50 dollar device so we could install the videos onto our computer and made the movie. Hillsong Publishing were extremely helpful to deal with and we paid for a license to have the “Magnificent” backing track as the sound accompaniment to the video. The price they charged us was also very reasonable. Koorong have placed the video on their site under my book name for which I am grateful.

I hope you may consider doing a movie promo for your own books because it may just help to communicate to potential readers that Aussie Christian books are worthy of attention.

Above is our promo, I realize its weaknesses which I can’t change but I thought it was worth having a go because you just never know how God may wish to use it for His purposes.

Sincerely, Jennifer Ann

For more information about Jennifer Ann or her book “Broken Pottery – the life of an African girl” please go to her website; www.JenniferAnn.info

Faith, Hope, Love

Have you been to the book shop lately?  I mean actually into a mainstream retailer, and had a look at the selection of books that are on offer.  Worse still have you seen the books that are targeted at teenagers and even children?  They are dark and twisted.  Recently my son and I went on a quest to find a kids joke book. Not a crude one, not one full of evil, but a collection of giggles that would not leave a young mind traumatised.  It was not an easy task.

It got me to thinking that I am so thankful for each one of you.

I am so glad that God has called you on this day, in this hour, to weave faith, hope and love into your works, to add a glimmer of light to an often dark retail bookshelf.  I am so thankful that you are passionate and don't give up in the face of continual challenges.  I am blessed by your stories, works of art and factual insight.  I want each of you to know that God fights for you. 

When you are rejected by yet another publisher....He comforts you.

When you struggle to make ends meet...He gives you what you need and a little bit more.

When you succeed...He celebrates with you.

When you spend hour after hour combing your manuscript...He is guiding your hand.

Writing is not simply a product of the mind, but an expression of the innermost recesses of the human heart.  We are born again believers in Christ, filled with His light. If we do not persist in creating and expressing, then how will the world ever truly see faith, hope and love?  Only God is the source of faith, hope and love, and we know Him.

We dare to be different, knowing that if we plant a spark in the heart of the reader, God will do the rest. 

Nicole Watson writes non-fiction and resides in the Yarra Valley, Victoria.  You can find out more about Nicole here:

Blog:  www.comefollowmewatsons.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicole-Watson-Author/181785301923586

Sam's Heart on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/samsheartbook

Web: www.samsheart.com.au

Red Thoughts, Green Thoughts

Philippians 4:8

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

Our thoughts can affect us more than we realise sometimes. I often find myself in a dark and depressed place when I allow negative thoughts to consume me. Negative thoughts can hold us back and weigh us down; they may even cause physical symptoms like stomach ulcers, headaches and other stress related illnesses.

Our oldest son, now 10, can be quite an anxious boy who worries about all sorts of things. Today is the first day of school for 2012 and he has been anxious for days. Back in 2009 his anxiety was causing many problems and my husband and I had run out of strategies to help him so we took him to a child psychologist. 6 sessions later, he was a new boy! I just wanted to share with you today the biggest strategy we learnt as it's helpful for adults too.

Consider your worries and concerns as 'red thoughts'. They are thoughts like, 'I can't', 'I'm no good at...', I'm hopeless’. Red thoughts are all the negative things we think about when faced with an issue or event. Our son used to be so worried about some aspects of his schooling he would be physically ill some mornings.

Is there anything you worry about that causes a physical reaction as well as the emotional reactions? Next time you face that worry, here's what to do.....

Change the red thoughts into green thoughts.

Once you have identified exactly what the red thought is, take some really deep/slow breaths to calm you down (which also reduces any physical reactions) and try to think about all the positive or 'green' things about your worry. As my son was younger at the time of his counselling the Psychologist used the terms red and green to explain his thoughts, but for older children/adults we can refer to them as 'rational' and irrational' thoughts.

Here's an example to explain what I mean. My son is so worried about starting school tomorrow. We can easily identify this as his BIG read thought but we then ask him to tell us some 'green' thoughts about starting school, like the fact that he knows his teacher, he has some friends in class with him, the school is not new to him, he knows most of the teachers in the school as well as where everything is in the school..... Breaking down the worry and doing some deep breathing helps our son deal with his worry in a rational way. Sometimes finding the 'green' thoughts can be tricky but they are there and it just helps us shift to more positive thinking. It doesn’t take the worry away entirely either but it certainly helps.

Now when faced with a problem, instead of saying 'I can't do that', our son also has the skills to break it down and deal with one step at a time until the problem is solved. He is training his mind to see positives instead of negatives that make him sick and stop him from trying or participating.

These simple techniques have made the world of difference to our son – even though he needs a refresher every now and then. Hubby and I even find ourselves using them when we face a stress or issue. I should also add, that as a Christian family we always emphasise the importance of prayer in combating worry.

The verses above from Philippians instruct us to think about things that are pure, noble, lovely and true. I don't know about you, but thinking about those things is easier for me if I aim to keep my mind full of positive thoughts.

We may not know what a new year at school holds for our children, but we face it head on, with positive thoughts and God on our side!

Blessings to you,

Narelle Nettelbeck

For the love of letters.

Those of you who know me, or who have been following the random comments that make up my Penny Drops, will know I am a sucker for snail mail. I love the postman, anticipate the parcel lady’s arrival and drool over note-cards and paper sets in my favourite store. I’ve even found a blog/store called the Letter Writers’ Alliance and am wondering if Australia Post would be able to handle their Pigeon Post option. I love it!

But seriously, letter writing – that ancient art of pen and paper in a literal envelope, decorated by a stamp and carried by a number of vehicles over a period of days or weeks to its destination – is the very essence of what it means to write. Writers write to be read; one person to another. And this is exactly what letter writing is: raw, relationship driven communication.

Some people may draft their letters to friends. I don’t. And here is an interesting fact I learned recently: a letter’s copyright belongs not to the writer but the recipient. This highlights the trust implicit in letter writing, a trust not so present in the world of social media.

Despite the many relational opportunities offered by email, facebook, twitter or texting, there is something about the act of writing by hand that makes a letter more of a gift than plain communication. Perhaps it is the slowness of it for those accustomed to high speed typing, or the thoughtful recipient driven approach to word formation. When I write a letter, the person I am writing to is in my thoughts from the moment I write (okay, scrawl) Dear... to the time I drop the letter in the post box and count the days till the letter may be received. Perhaps I approach the process slightly religiously, but this is the luxury of friendship at snail mail pace.

And it’s this same thought and time that allows the letter to be a powerful tool for approaching politicians. Emails just don’t carry the weight that a physical letter does. One initiative our family has been involved with is the Micah Challenge Offering of Letters. It is a beautiful thing to read the letters written by my children asking their nation's leaders to make decisions considering the poor.

Historically speaking, the letter has always been used to carry important messages. The majority of the Bible’s New Testament was written as a letter. Its personal form is perfectly suited to carrying the enormous, life changing news about Jesus as seen and experienced in the writers’ lives. I’ll admit my letters are not divinely inspired as those in the Bible are, but they do give me the opportunity to share my faith and encourage those I love.

Letter writing also reminds me (as one who considers herself a writer by vocation) that I don’t just write for myself, for publication, for approval, for blog comments or facebook likes. I can and will put pen to paper just for one person.

And, if I ever needed more justification than that, I’ve always got a Jane Austen quote to back me up: “A person who can write a long letter with ease, cannot write ill” (Jane Austen via Miss Bingley in pride and Prejudice. )

So, fellow writers, share a story about a letter that meant a lot to you. But here’s the catch; you are not allowed to comment until you write a piece of snail mail first. Happy letter writing!

Penny Reeve is a children’s author currently living with her family in Western Sydney. This week she hopes to weed the front garden, read something other than the big truck book to her toddler and write a decent letter to an overseas friend!

Aussie Writer on the Journey: What I’ve learned from entering Writing Contests

by Narelle Atkins

In January I sit down and plan my writing goals for the coming year and this process includes thinking about writing contests. I enter writing contests for a number of reasons. I want to receive honest and helpful feedback from experienced judges to assist me in revising and improving my story. I also enter contests in the hope of being a finalist and skipping the slush pile by getting my work in front of editors and agents. I have received valuable feedback on partial manuscripts from final round editor judges and also a full manuscript request from an editor at my target publisher.

The first manuscript I wrote was a finalist in the Faith, Hope & Love Inspirational Chapter of Romance Writers of America’s 2007 Touched By Love contest. This was only the second contest I had ever entered and I was beyond excited by the news. Being a contest finalist gives you validation that you can actually write and also the encouraging knowledge that others can see potential in your manuscript. As well as receiving helpful feedback from the first round judges, I received five excellent critiques from the published author final round judges. I learned an enormous amount about writing craft from the judge’s comments which helped me to revise and strengthen my story.

I’m selective and usually enter contests sponsored by writing organisations and their chapters eg. Romance Writers of America, Romance Writers of Australia, American Christian Fiction Writers. I enter contests to gauge how the quality of my story compares to stories by other aspiring authors. I want to discover what is working and what isn’t working in my story, and ascertain whether or not my manuscript is ready for submission. I look for contests with scoresheets that provide feedback on the various aspects of writing craft as well as numerical scores.

Entering writing contests has helped me to grow a thicker skin and learn how to accept constructive criticism of my work. It’s good preparation for the inevitable rejections from editors and agents. Writing is subjective and I have come across judges who don’t like my story or my writing style. If two or three judges comment on the same problem in my story then it’s probably an issue I need to address. I ignore feedback that doesn’t resonate with me, or put it aside to review later when I’m not feeling so emotionally attached to my story.

I tend to focus more on the comments than numerical scores. A numerical score provides an indication of the quality of my story. But it’s the comments that are gold because they can help me understand why a judge didn’t think a particular aspect of my story worked and provide ideas on how to fix the problem. I try not to let low scores or critical comments discourage me and instead view them as an opportunity to learn and grow as a writer.

Have you entered many writing contests? I’d love to hear about your thoughts and experiences.

Narelle Atkins writes contemporary inspirational romance. She resides in Canberra, Australia with her husband and children. She can also be found at the International Christian Fiction Writers blog. To learn more about Narelle, please visit her website.

How to attract a Black Dog into your working life

None of us want a black dog of depression or discouragement. Here are a few deterrent tips I've presented at workshops recently. I've done each of these ten things at different times and decided that if I want to stop being shadowed by this nuisance, I should start doing the opposite. I'm not talking about the menacing, clinical sort of black dog which requires medication and/or counseling but the black dog which artistic and creative people find gatecrashing their peace of mind. Perhaps they are simply different sized variations of the same beast.
1) Compare yourself to other authors and keep a close eye on their success.

2) Assume that slow periods of time prove that God is not blessing you.

3) Tell your family and friends about each of your writing projects and expect them to brim over with enthusiasm. Size up everybody you know as potential customers to buy and promote your books.

4) Race impatiently through each of your writing projects with the incentive of sweet success, warm accolades and piles of moolah to spur you on.

5) Dismiss compliments but take it for granted that all criticism must be true.

6) Assume that setbacks are typical and will keep recurring.

7) Turn up your nose at the small blessings each day brings.

8) Keep anticipating bad things which may happen so you can prepare yourself for them in advance.

9) Get impatient when things seem to be moving slowly and either grit your teeth and try to force things to happen or give up completely.

10) Never think beyond what you can see or hear. Don't take time to imagine the people your writing may touch now and way into the future who you never hear about.

Paula Vince is a homeschooling mother and award-winning author of faith-inspired fiction set in Australia. She believes stories are a powerful tool to bring goodness and hope to the lives of readers and loves invoking tears, laughter and cheering. Visit her at www.appleleafbooks.com or her motivational blog, "It Just Occurred to Me."

P O V ... What's That? by Rita Stella Galieh

Can you quote what this little gal is thinking from her POV? She'd definitely got attitude! But in case you're a little unsure, those initials simply represent Point of View.

It's something we writers really need to understand and work on if we want our readers to get into the heads of our fictional characters. And to a certain extent non fiction. If we're a reader then we'll want to know who is actually telling the story.

If you're writing in first person, you'll use I. me, mine pronouns to tell the story from this very personal POV. That means you can only allow the reader to know what your character can see, hear, feel, and touch. Chicklit and often detective stories are written in this POV.

Third person uses he, she pronouns and proper names. So you tell the story from his or her POV.  The reader should experience things only from that character's POV  You can also write multiple POVs which I favour as I enjoy giving my main characters and maybe a couple of secondary characters their POVs.

Nowadays ( especially in the US market) Close POV seems to be preferred  for current fiction. This focuses on internal thoughts and is worked in the dialogue and action scenes.

Here's 2 examples. 1. Third person distant POV: Annie knew it was time to leave before things got too embarrassing, especially if she said too much. You are reading about what she's thinking. 2. Third person close POV: She'd better go now. Things could get embarrassing if she stayed. She'd be sure to say too much.  A subtle change, yes, but now you are in Annie's head. You are free to show thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations, and not tell about them. And that way you're fully engaged in the story by feeling what the main character is experiencing.

For Down Unders only. Here's an exercise just for fun: Write a short caption for what this intelligent babe is thinking in Close POV. Leave your email using (at) and (dot) and I'll choose what I think is the cutest. The  winner will receive a copy of  my first book, Fire in the Rock. sometime after the following weekend.

Rita Galieh is now putting the finishing touches on THE TIE THAT BINDS, the second book following SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED of the Watermark Women Trilogy.

I'm in love...

...with Bento boxes. Not only are these Japanese lunch boxes practical...but they satisfy my hunger for beauty. Each one is a study in creativity and simplicity.

Our family spends quite a deal of time at our local swimming pool. My husband coaches while my little salamander joins the others in swimming around nine kilometres a week. After each session he clambers from the pool and while dripping water over everything, immediately goes on a search and destroy mission in my bag for nourishment. Getting sick of seeing him eat the same old things, I started searching for different ideas to make for him and came across Bento boxes.

I was entranced.

In fact I was so entranced that I set about making my first one the next day. My husband’s initial amusement faded and before long joined me in the kitchen. Soon the enticing aroma of Japanese cooking filled the air.

As we worked together transforming slices of cheese into stars, and eating more than we made, I realised creating this bounty for my son was just like writing a novel. Okay, it doesn’t take quite as long or result in wanting to throw a computer across the room…but you get the idea.

First I layered steamed rice into the chosen receptacle. Just like our initial ideas this forms the base of our dish. It needs to have substance and be easy to manipulate if needed. At this stage nothing is set in stone.

Next we added Teriyaki beef for the sky and scrambled eggs for the ground. These layers added depth and allowed the ‘story’ to come together. Using different seasonings we created something that was not only had our tastebuds asking for more, but was also filling.

Finally we assembled sliced meat, cheese, carrots and tomato on the top. By arranging these finishing touches, we completed the picture into our ideal. It’s those little touches that appeal to our senses that take the dish, or book, from being ordinary-everyday-fare to being a creation worthy of The Master Chef.

That's mine in the picture above. It may not be the most creative thing you've ever seen, but can you imagine the 'ooh's and 'aahs' from a very hungry swimmer? Needless to say it didn't last long. :)

What is it that you’ve discovered recently that has your juices flowing?

The Writer's Prayer

On a recent adventure, I accompanied my Beloved on a business trip to Malaysia. He did his thing in the corporate arena, and I got to spend my days at the keyboard, spitting out those words we all love to chase. 


I had no internet. (Gasp)


No household chores beckoned, and there were no kids to drag me out of my writing world. I did have a very kind 'butler' (I know... don't hate me!) who serviced the hotel's lounge where I spent my hours. 


She delivered a steady stream of coffee whenever my cup ran dry. She replenished the buffet, where tropical fruits and sinful pastries winked at me all day. And, she smiled her encouragement when I took laps of the room to stretch my legs and roll my author shoulders. 


Can you imagine a more perfect writing day? Food and drink on tap, and total quiet. Once the breakfast traffic faded, I was glad to call that lounge my own for the rest of the morning, and well into the afternoon. I know you will not be surprised to hear, my word count reflected the benefits of full-time writing. I slammed that word count, and doubled it for good measure!


And then I had to go home. 


Home to the real world, which in my case, is sadly understaffed in the butler department. 


In my real world, words come slower, chased by the many demands no one could ever juggle, as well as I'm meant to. Here, my words are couched in the realities of life which dictate mood and enthusiasm. Tempered by commitments. Shadowed by my other loves. 


So how do we reconcile the requirements of writing, with life as we know it? From where do we snatch the minutes to add to our chapters?


I know from experimentation, an hour of my time is worth between 600 and 1000 words. But what if I sit for my allocated writing time and my head is not in tune with the task? How do I find 'Author Dotti' when 'Mama Dotti' is still in the room with a basket of washing on her hip? How do I dismiss 'Friend Dotti' when she still needs to cry for a sister, or 'Real Dotti' when her own burdens are too heavy?


I have found the best way to secure myself for writing, is to centre myself in Christ. Over the years I've collected writer's prayers which help me face the writing hour under the banner of Him who loves me most. 


So here's my prayer for 2012, penned by Sandy Tritt. Better than a butler, it's a New Year's gift, from me... to you. Be blessed. 

The Writer's Prayer

Open my mind, Lord. Grant me the talent to write with clarity and style, 

so my words go down rich and smooth, 

like fine wine, and leave my reader thirsty for more. 

Open my heart, Lord. Grant me the sensitivity to understand my characters...

  their hopes, their wants, their dreams,

 and help me to confer that empathy to my reader. 

Open my soul, Lord, so I may be a channel to wisdom,

 and creativity from beyond my self. 

Stoke my imagination with vivid imagery and vibrant perception.

But most of all, Lord, help me to know the Truth,

 so my fiction is more honest than actuality, 

and reaches the depths of my reader's soul. 

Wrap these gifts with opportunity, perseverance,

 and the strength to resist those who insist it can't be done.  

Amen

..................................

Dorothy Adamek writes Historical Romance. Visit her at her blog Ink Dots.

Writing Goals

It is the beginning of a New Year and I for one, love to set aside some time to reflect on what I achieved last year and then prayerfully set goals for the new one. I believe that setting goals helps to keep purpose and direction throughout the year. I don't like to look back and regret time wasted.

So I am curious. Do others tackle life this way? Do you plot our your year roughly and write down what you wish to achieve? I want to encourage you to try it if you haven't done it before. (Ok, I'm hearing "but if I set goals and then don't achieve them, I'll feel like a failure." I used to feel that way too, but if you push past the fear and don't put too high expectations on yourself, it will be beneficial.)

Here are some of the areas you can set goals in:

Spiritual Life - What changes do I want to see in this area of my life? Better prayer and devotions? Better self-control in some area? Learning to trust God in some situation? It could be any number of things.

Marriage/Family Life - How can I improve my marriage and what are some step I can take to achieve it? How can I improve relationships with my children? What can I impart to them this year? Are there any relationships that need some reconciliation and healing? What can I do to help this happen?

Personal Growth - this is to do with physical/mental/emotional well being. Do I need to exercise more? Do I need to shed a few kilos? Do I need to take more time out so I don't wear myself out so much? Do I need to find a job, or change employment?

Skills Development - What can I do this year to improve my skills for my career or for my ministry? It is important to invest in your gifts and abilities.

Writing Goals - Being an author, I add this to my list. I write down all that I wish to achieve for my writing career. How many words per day or week will I write? Do I just aim to finish that manuscript and write "The End"? Do I need to work on editing a draft or put together a submission? Do I need to find the courage to actually send something to a publisher? To I need to work on promotion and what events/articles can I plan to achieve this? How often do I want to blog?

There are so many things you can set goals for. I personally, set at least one in each section, and heaps in the writing one. But it is an individual thing. You do what works best for you. One thing is important - be specific. Rather than write something like "I want to read my bible more," quantify it - make it measurable. Eg "I will read two chapters of my bible per day."

Another way to step it up a notch, if you are not terrified of the whole process, is type out your goals and hand them to someone close who can follow you up every couple of months. That way you keep accountable as well and can get encouragement along the way.

Do any of you already do this? Please feel free to share your own tips and experiences. :)

Amanda Deed resides in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne where she fills her time with work, raising a family, church activities and writing historical romance novels. Her new novel, Ellenvale Gold was released at the beginning of November, 2011. For more information, see:
http://www.amandadeed.com.au/
http://amanderings.wordpress.com/

New Year, New Chapter

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

New Year, New Chapter

A week or so into the new year and I'm still a bit dazed that it's actually here. I love to have goals set for each year and to review the year past, to think about what I've learned, achieved, discovered. However the end of last year was a bit of a blur for me, My husband retired just before Christmas, so leading up to that we had lots of events, celebrations, goodbyes etc. It was a great climax for him after many years working in disability services and achieving some wonderful things. I'm very proud of him. But the idea of retirement - while we've thought about it a great deal - is still a little surreal. It's been harder for me to plan for this year and to set goals knowing that Neil's retirement will bring changes for us both, and waiting to see what he want to do in this first year. So it really is a whole new chapter of our lives and to be honest I have mixed feelings about it. While there will be great opportunities for us to do things we haven't been able to do before, I have grown used to many hours through the week where I can decide what to do; write, read, spend time with friends, work around the house, reflect, pray. I'm not sure how having a man around much of the time will affect all that, and I'm praying that God gives me grace and understanding and patience. Looking back there have been other periods of time in my life where changes have brought a new chapter of living and as I reflect on them now I'm grateful for the new things that God has done in my life through them. One of them of course is writing, and I cannot now imagine life without that, so in a very real way I'm excited about what God may have ahead for me as well as for Neil.  

One of the things I am pleased to have achieved in the past couple of months is a re-edit of my very first novel, Suzannah's Gold, and now thanks to Rochelle that is available on Kindle. So that's one of my goals achieved and a pretty good start to my year! As I reread Suzannah's story I was struck again by the tumultuous changes that were forced upon this young girl who was transported at the age of 12 to the other side of the world. It was the terrifying and seemingly hopeless situations that Suzannah found herself in, that inspired me as I wrote that story about my great great grandmother eight years ago. Her challenges make mine seem insignificant. And so I will face this new year, this new chapter  of my life, with excitement, gratitude, curiosity and faith. If I must let go of some things, if I get frustrated or impatient, I will remember 

Suzannah, and I will be reminded of how blessed I am. 

I'm sure you will all have your challenges for the year ahead as well and I pray that there will be many blessings for us all. 

I will not be around in February as Neil and I are going to the Antarctic for a month. That's been his retirement dream for quite a few years. No doubt it will be a wonderful experience for us both and I'll probably be full of news about it when I next blog. Carol  

The Innocence of Youth

It's December 31st (I know you won't be reading this until January 9th). I just packed up all the Christmas decorations and tree. I always do on December 31st. For me, Christmas is strictly for December. But as I was folding the lights up, and pushing the tinsel into the big red bag, I felt a little sad. I had enjoyed the soft glow of the Christmas fairy lights reflecting from the tinsel dressed Christmas tree. And all the little things I have bought over the years that reminded me of my childhood Christmases. Christmas in the 70's was the most exciting time of my childish year. All of the traditions, stories and fun.

This morning as I put the tinsel in the bag, I sighed with a sense of sadness knowing that those times are gone. I sometimes try to recreate them using the same tastes with Christmas food, and the same kind of decorations, but things are different now. I'm all grown up (and then some), and the delights of childish innocence, and magic of Christmas just happening are finished. Now if Christmas is going to happen, the Christmas fairies don't seem to be there anymore. It's up to me to make it happen. In days gone by it was the tireless efforts of my mother, grandmothers and aunt that made Christmas what it was. As kids, we just indulged and enjoyed.

That made me think of my childhood in general. Being a kid in the 60's 70's was great! I didn't think about the ills of society, the troubles of economics, the fears of a degenerate population. I think I heard whispers of some trouble in Borneo, and floods in Queensland, and perhaps some thing awful had happened in New Guinea. But I was a kid, and it didn't effect me. I wasn't too worried about the world around. I lived on a farm, and I had 300 acre home property to wander about on, with my horse, dog and pet sheep. And I didn't have a mobile phone so my parents could contact me at any moment. When I got home, I didn't jump on facebook and update my status. I was lucky if I used the telephone plugged into the hallway wall more than once a month.

Ah, the innocence of youth. What a wonderful thing.

Then that makes me think, what about our youngsters today. They have war, murder, riots, rape and drug deals pumped into their living area just about every evening around news time. There are stories of economic woe, doomsday is threatening, if not in reality, at least in the movies - after all, the Mayan Calendar finished in 2012.

Are our kids living an innocent carefree life, as I did when I was a kid? I'm not sure that they do. We don't let them outside very much to explore unattended, because of our own fear. That's a shame.

Perhaps it is up to us story tellers to get our kids reading at least, and bring them into a world that perhaps might be fairyland to them, but was a reality to generations past.

Hope you all had a great start to the New Year, and wishing you all the best in your endeavours for 2012.

Meredith Resce

Author - Period Drama Romance (and other stuff too. This year might be different, so watch this space)