The story is written, and typed, by Rhianna Hudd, age 8. She loves writing stories, and this could be the first of many.
Sophie goes for a walk
Sophie is a young sun bear, who is still living with mum and dad. One day Sophie thought it would be fun to have an adventure. So, Sophie asked her mum if she could go for a walk in the forest.
“Of course you can dear,” her mum answered.
“Thanks Mum!” Sophie exclaimed.
So, Sophie went to find her straw hat, then she set out into the forest. Sophie was whistling a tune as she wondered down the forest path. Just then a huge gust of wind blew off Sophie’s hat.
“Oh no,” cried Sophie as she ran after her hat.
“Got it,” she shouted Sophie when she caught it. Soon, Sophie was getting hungry.
Just then Sophie saw some berry bushes.
“Oh yum,” she said to herself quietly. So, Sophie went over to the bushes and started eating the berries. By the time Sophie was full she had eaten all of the berries.
“Oh, they were delicious,” Sophie cried. Just then, she realised that her cheeks were colder than the rest of her body. “Oh no!” she cried aloud, “I have berry juice all over my face.” So she got up and hid her face behind her hat till she got to the river.
“That felt good,” said Sophie as the shook her head from side to side. She had to have a quick drink before she kept going. Slurp… Slurp… Sophie drank quite quickly. “Oh, I should be getting home,” she thought aloud. So up she got and started running home.
As she was running, she bumped into Bo, one of her friends. Bo is a brown bear, and bigger than Sophie.
“What are you doing here?” Sophie said to Bo. “Well, I was coming over to your place for a sleepover, but you weren’t there so your mum asked me to go and find you. So I did,” explained Bo.
“But where’s Bella?” asked Sophie.
“She’s helping your mum with dinner,” Bo answered.
“Ok,” Sophie said. So home they went.
When they got there, fish stew was on the table.
“Oh yum,” cried Bo as he sat down.
Soon, they had finished dinner and Sophie’s dad was home.
“Hi Dad,” Sophie said to her Dad.
“Hi, Sweetpea,” he said as he kissed her on the forehead.
“Ok, children, it’s time for bed.” Mum gave all three a hug.
“Night,” they all said together and off they went to bed.
“Goodnight,” Sophie’s parents said to them as they turned off the light and close the door.
John McDougall Stuart was one of Australia’s greatest explorers. He was relentless in his quest for a way through the centre of Australia and finding a route to the top end. He led six expeditions , each time pushing himself and his men to the brink of death. He travelled light with minimum provisions and horses, and just a few men.
Stuart’s expeditions started in 1858 in search of Wingillpin. Thinking there was an inland sea in the middle of Australia, the brave explorer forged his way from Adelaide to the centre. From there he moved ever northward, looking for the coast and the Gulf of Carpentaria. He discovered and accurately mapped land, ranges, rivers and water holes, enabling stock routes to be formed and the first overland telegraph to be laid from Adelaide to the north coast of Australia. His last expedition in 1862 took him a year and finally he forced his way through to the sea at Point Stuart, on the edge of Kakadu National Park. He had won the race for the first white men cross Australia from south to north.
John McDougall Stuart died in 1866, in England, a poor and sick man. He was 50 years old.
John Bailey has written an incredible historical account of a man who was grossly under-acknowledged for his achievements in the founding of Australia. The research and detail in the book are phenomenal. He managed to capture the essence of John McDougall Stuart, what made him tick, and portrayed the force within that pushed him, time after time, to keep returning to outback Australia and find a route from the south coast to the north.
The book is compelling reading, both in its narration and adventure of the story. It portrays a man totally driven, for reasons known only to himself, and how it finally destroys him. The skill with which John Bailey has documented the events are second to none. I wholly recommend reading this book – it will forever etch in your memory the great men who arrived in a hostile and arid land and, with force of will, beat the elements and mapped our future.
It was during the first snowstorm of the new year. The color green was something you saw in pictures tacked to the wall or in a memory from what felt like years ago. I was living alone in a studio apartment in a shitty section of west Cleveland. Everything was the same color in that neighborhood, even in the summer. It was the kind of dirty grey that gets swept up into the air of unfinished basements and cold storage warehouses. There were no stairs to get to my apartment. I was as far down as you can get without going under. I slept in the same room as the oven, but I liked the smallness of it. When I was young my sister and I used to zip each other into suitcases. We would drag the suitcases up and down the stairs, and all around the living room, laughing hysterically.
That first morning I wrapped a scarf around my neck and lit the stove. I tripped over my shoes on my way to the sink to fill the pot. I looked down at them accusingly, as if anyone but me could have put them there. I looked up after kicking them across the room and that was when I saw him for the first time. I wouldn’t find out until later that he had been there for weeks. Inches away from me as I slept. An arm’s reach as I showered and dressed each morning. He sat with me while I overcooked my eggs and searched the internet for a cat to adopt, each time deciding against it because I could imagine it snowballing into two or three until I became one of those women.
The outside world that day, and every day since I had been living there, was a white swirling mixture of ground and sky. Set against the bright seamless backdrop was the outline of a man. He was fading in and out with each gust of wind, like a Polaroid gone backwards. But I saw him. I saw the tip of one of his pink fingers poking out of a hole in his glove. His hands were up against his mouth which was covered in a thick dark beard and his breath came in a long slow billow of white smoke, like the mouth of a gutter under a frozen street. His hood was pulled up over his head which made his eyes ever brighter in the shadow. I couldn’t tell what color they were, but they seemed to have a reflection inside them like the round outline of a flashbulb in the eye of a magazine model. I didn’t scream. I felt nothing like adrenaline, or dread. Or that feeling when your heart beats so fast it makes you want to throw up. Nothing like that happened. If someone told me that they saw a strange man staring at them through their window I would have expected to hear them say, “And then I screamed and dropped my glass and it shattered and I ran to the phone and dialed 911 and then I ran to my front door and pulled the deadbolt across and then I hid in the bathroom with the door closed and I couldn’t stop shaking.” But I didn’t do any of that. I stood completely still as if someone was holding me there, and I watched as the man I saw so clearly disappeared into the endless white.
It is amazing how quickly and easily manuscripts can become confused, especially with different versions of the same one. If you have more than one copy of a manuscript, make sure they are all well labelled and even dated to ensure mistakes will not happen. There would be nothing worse than sitting for hours, writing or editing, only to find that you have been working on the wrong version. I have a system which I find works quite well:
1. When adding the file name to your original manuscript, make sure you add the word ‘original’ into the title. And then put that copy away if its complete, keep it as a reference. It will also safeguard against any unexpected happenings. Make a new copy to work with and number and/or date it. (I prefer to number it).
Its a worry. Spam seems to invade and infiltrate everything, including WordPress. Once one gets a blog up and going, in come the bots and away they go – merrily running along, creating havoc and a lot of hard work to be rid of the rubbish they spew out. Makes you wonder if these people have anything better to do than create problems for others. It appears not. I have found a way around the problem for the time being by using WordPress En Spam. Lets hope it does the trick, or I will have to resort to using a captcha and those can be a little tedious for people who would like to make comments.
Many new authors turn themselves inside out trying to work out ‘how’ to have their story flow, write about each character in their turn and how to bring them into the story, kill them off, or keep them all going at the same time. Sometimes, a story can loose its way and the author has to bring it back on track, or not notice anything wrong if they become so embroiled in the drama of events taking place in the story.
Creative writing teacher Mary Caroll Moore is an accomplished author of eleven published books. She has created a video on how to ‘storyboard’ your novel. Mary’s books range from Romance to health, lifestyle to creative writing. Mary makes writing look easy, as though it just flows from beginning to end. But, there is a secret. That secret she shares with the world on her video.
Track Changes! Simple words for a simple way to edit your documents. But for those who have no idea where to find Track Changes, let alone use it, that is easier said than done. It’s amazing how many people do not know how to use Track Changes, or have never even heard of it.
For years making changes to any type of document was a nightmare – Back in the typewriter era was the ‘carbon paper’; that was hard work, erasing two, three, four or more copies if a typo was made. Then came the electric typewriter and ‘whiteout’ – which smudged everywhere if it wasn’t properly dry before over-typing the corrected character. After that we arrived at the Word Processor – a little easier as deletions were make easy with backspacing, delete key and over-typing, but still tedious.
Then the arrival of The Computer. Windows 95 followed closely on its heels. The beginning! But, oh, still such a long way to go…
Where does it come from? What happens when one suddenly gets a ‘lightbulb’ go on? You can be anywhere, and it can happen at any time – day or night.
Although I am an editor and publisher, spinner and knitter, I have never considered myself a ‘writer’. But there are occasions when inspiration just happens and a whole lot of words will appear in my head, crying out to be documented on paper. Writing for me is a thing of ‘inspiration’ and hopefully, I’ll have pen and paper handy to write it down as once its gone, it never seems to reappear. Or at least, not in the same way. It comes and goes, and usually very fast. One minute its kind of just tumbling out, then next – whooosh, gone. I envy those authors who can just call it up at will, its something that many of us would love to be able to do…
Ronelle Smith is author of ENCOUNTER, the first book in a series of five about 13-year-old Jonathon Newman-Smith, who is gifted with unusual talents.
After reading the book, and being totally enthralled by the adventure, I decided to find out more as to what initiated the story.
I will let her tell you, in her own words, why and how she came to write this excellent story. It is aimed at young adults, teenagers who may be ablehttp://auroranaturally.com.au/ to connect with her words and see themselves in Jonathon, although it is compelling reading for any age group and she hopes many people will benefit from the positive messages contained throughout the book.
What drove you to write “Encounter”?
In today’s changing world, society is not as it used to be when family units were strong and family values were held dear. Because of this, many of our youth are floundering in a society of double standards, where two-parent role models are almost a thing of the past and future stability in the home is not guaranteed. The consequent lack of security takes its toll on their self-confidence and often their innate gifts and talents fall victim and fail to develop. In some cases this can lead to a deep sense of loss and even depression. The emerging young adult may feel lonely and isolated with no true understanding of their place in the world or their purpose in life.
From my 40 years of teaching high school students I have come to recognize the causes of self-destructive behaviour as expressed by individual teenagers. In some instances unsettled home situations frequently trigger anti-social activities and resentment for any form of authority. With an unwillingness to comply with rules and regulations and general lack of cooperation the teenagers find themselves in greater difficulty with an accompanying defeatist attitude. From my interviews with these specific young people I have learnt two things of paramount importance. Firstly, they feel desperately lonely and yearn for support of some kind, and secondly they hunger for help to achieve their goals. Yes! THEY DO HAVE GOALS. In spite of what the media would have us believe about our wayward teens. They have dreams of achievement, some so secret, they have difficulty expressing them to a listening adult.
“Encounter” is written to gently encourage young people to believe in themselves and reach for their goals no matter what their circumstances. Life presents lessons from which we are to learn and grow. How much we learn or, for that matter, completely ignore, is entirely up to the individual choices made along the way.
We are all capable of far more than we ever realise!
How long did it take you to write the book and was much research involved?
Encounter took me about six months to write, with research starting well before I took pen to paper, so to speak. Because of certain aspects of the book, I had to ensure my facts were correct, so many hours were spent on research. Believe it or not, one of the villains in the work is an incredibly small, but potentially dangerous plant. I had to check my facts very carefully regarding this tiny algae. Local geography also had to be well researched as some of the action occurs in our ruggedly beautiful Snowy Mountains. An understanding of the topography of Turkey was also necessary as several characters fulfill their mission in that country.
What is “Encounter” about?
The book reveals the amazing story of 13 year-old Jonathan Newman-Smith, a lonely boy who has spent most of his life in boarding school due to his father’s numerous absences overseas. On his 13th birthday, Jonathon, a typical ‘Tall Poppy’ who is bullied at school, has a paranormal experience which changes his life. He discovers he has been ‘gifted’ with several amazing abilities. His encounter with a collective of spiritual beings known as TRYSTARON leaves him with a choice of pursuing his destiny of becoming a world peace-maker or continuing his life as normal. Choosing the former, he battles to understand this phenomenon and come to terms with his new abilities, sometimes resulting in a humorous scenario. While this is happening, his father and stepmother, both secret service agents from a select division of ASIO, become involved in a terrorist plot that could have a devastating effect on a major Australian city. Jonathon is kidnapped by the perpetrators and threatened with death. He manages to escape and the adventure draws him more deeply into his parents’ world of espionage.
As a world traveller, I chose the settings carefully. For intrigue and suspense, Istanbul in Turkey was perfect with its colourful society and romantic history. This charismatic city adds vigour to the story, while to give “Encounter” the Australian flavour, I chose a small town on the South Coast of New South Wales for Jonathon’s home, with Canberra, the nation’s capital, and Kosciusko National Park for home-grown action.
Encounter creates an atmosphere of possibilities. Incredible scenarios become absolutely believable as the story evolves. It is a fast-paced, exciting novel that will appeal not just to young adults, but also a much wider readership.
What benefit can the reader expect out of the book?
There are several messages hidden within the chapters of the book for those who are ready to discover them. It can help those who need extra support to build, or re-build their confidence. It can develop awareness that ‘Life’ is the teacher presenting challenging lessons from which we gain knowledge, learn and mature. No one escapes these lessons as difficult as they may be. In due course we realize we are never alone and can call for assistance from our spiritual guides whenever we need it.
This book is written with ‘tomorrow’s’ generation in mind, showing clearly that life is an adventure and it can, with a little help, be bountiful, beautiful and full of promise. “Encounter” is a melting pot of action adventure, intrigue, love and mystery. The reader can expect all of this, and more.
Are you planning more books?
Yes. Encounter is the first book in a series of five. Book two is written and ready to be published, which will be happening very soon. Each book is a stage in Jonathon’s life as he grows, matures, and explores his gifts and abilities and learns how best to use them.
Where will you go from here?
At the moment, I am still working on the series but I intend for the books to reach all levels of readership, in schools, bookstores and libraries. In this way, it will help the future generation to know they are not alone, encourage them to become the best they can be and realise that it’s up to each and every one of us to do our part to create a peaceful world.
———————————
We will be hearing more from Ronelle as her books find their way to the people who desire to read them. Encounter is available in printed form and will soon be available as an eBook, extending the range of reach and readership.
Read the first chapter of Ronelle’s book on Aurora House website. Be curious!
to his father’s numerous absences overseas. On his 13th birthday, Jonathon, a typical ‘Tall Poppy’ who is bullied at school, has a paranormal experience which changes his life. He discovers he has been ‘gifted’ with several amazing abilities. His encounter with a collective of spiritual beings known as TRYSTARON leaves him with a choice of pursuing his destiny of becoming a world peace-maker or continuing his life as normal. Choosing the former, he battles to understand this phenomenon and come to terms with his new abilities, sometimes resulting in a humorous scenario. While this is happening, his father and stepmother, both secret service agents from a select division of ASIO, become involved in a terrorist plot that could have a devastating effect on a major Australian city. Jonathon is kidnapped by the perpetrators and threatened with death. He manages to escape and the adventure draws him more deeply into his parents’ world of espionage.