At the Lake

I tried my hand at some photography:

A word about Indie authors

These pieces are all written by the Independent authors who started Bestseller Bound

I have just put them here in their entirety as they are pretty self explanatory. I found the whole thing very interesting and I've purchased a couple of their Indie books in Kindle version from Amazon. Some definite food for thought.
If you are interested, Maria Savva, Darcia Helle, Stacy Juba are all over the web, so search for them or Bestseller Bound on Twitter, Facebook, Good Reads, Websites and Amazon.


Our Purpose
« on: August 01, 2010, 03:05:03 PM »

BestsellerBound is a place for independent authors to connect with readers. Many readers don't know the nitty gritty day-to-day tasks that go with the territory of being an author. Writing books is the fun part, but there is a lot more that goes into being a successful author. Blogging, video trailers, reviews, ebooks, social networking, web sites, appearances - these are just a few of the tasks that take up an author's time. Many of us independent authors could make more money doing something else, but we all love the excitement of getting our masterpieces into the hands of the readers that appreciate them. Writing and publishing is a passion, and we all hold onto that dream of someday having that breakout novel, the one that tops the bestseller lists.

Readers, this is a place to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it's like to be a working author and to support them on their path to literary success. Feel free to chat, ask questions and gather new titles for your to-read list. Authors, stop by and tell us about your books. Please read the the few "rules" in the guidelines section before posting.

Writing is a solitary business that can easily leave us disconnected from the readers we hope to reach. However, we write for you, the reader, as much as, if not more than, we write for ourselves. As a reader, I've also felt the disconnect with the authors who write the words I read. When I began networking with fellow authors, I realized how much fun it truly is to ask those questions about their ideas, their writing habits, and their world. Their books became so much more than just words on paper. This message board is for all of us, readers and writers alike, to interact and share our passion.

http://www.DarciaHelle.com


Calling all indie authors and readers!
« on: October 31, 2010, 07:21:27 AM »

I'm not sure how many of you will have heard about or remember the Rage Against The Machine Campaign in the UK last year, so I will summarise it here:

For many years, Simon Cowell and the X Factor team have manipulated the music charts in the UK by releasing a single by the winner of the X Factor at just the right time to ensure they will hit the No.1 spot at Christmas. Music lovers in the UK had enough of the talentless tripe that would top the charts each year, meaning that musicians who worked hard had little or no chance of getting a no.1 record at Christmas. Last year a group was formed on Facebook by people who were taking a stand against this manufactured pop. Everyone was asked to download a copy of "Killing in the name of" by Rage Against The Machine. Music fans were delighted when the track beat the X Factor winner to No.1 last year. Even people who didn't like the Rage against the machine song, downloaded the song by way of protest.

Inspired by this, the BestsellerBound team have devised a plan to propel an indie author to No.1 in the bestsellers. We want to show the publishing world that we have enough support behind us as indie authors to be commercially viable. We want to finally show the literary world that we are a force to be reckoned with.

We are sick of being treated like we don't exist and being told that just because we haven't been signed by a major publisher our books are not good enough.

We know that our books are just as good as the bestsellers (and in some cases they are better).

We have chosen Darcia Helle's latest novel "The Cutting Edge" as the book to lead us to victory in the campaign.

Darcia is an exceptionally talented writer who has published no less than 7 novels, each one has been received well by her ever growing fan base and yet she, like all indie authors, faces prejudice every day from certain booksellers and reviewers who label our work as inferior. It's time to turn the tables.

I hope you will all join us in our campaign.

When we have a decent amount of followers on our Facebook Page we will be setting a date for everyone to download the ebook. Darcia has very kindly agreed to reduce the price of the ebook to 99c for the day of the download. (There has to be a price or it won't be counted in the bestseller charts.)

We are confident that, if successful, this campaign will raise the profile of all indie authors and will change the way we are viewed by the literary world.

Please click the link below and 'Like' our Facebook page. But your assistance is also required to spread the word. So blog about it, tweet about it, tell all your friends.

We'd love to hear how you are helping with the campaign, so please post here and tell us what you're doing. We'll think up some prizes for the most helpful BestsellerBound member.


http://www.facebook.com/pages/BestsellerBound-The-Cutting-Edge-Campaign/114761851921845

http://www.mariasavva.com

A New Year Blog Hop

I'm feeling very excited for this year. This is the next phase of my life, no more homeschooling, getting back into work perhaps. I'm not sure. The possibilities are endless. Our daughter's first year of marriage, our son's first on-campus classes since he was about 8 years old (except if you count music lessons, drama, sport etc.)

Here is a blog hop for New Year hosted by Eccentric Delirium where the emphasis is on fun.
The link is above. Hope to see you there :)

Meet Me on Monday

Follow the above link for the "Meet Me on Monday" meme at "Never Growing Old". This is the first blog meme I've done like this, although I've done a few on social media.
So here goes, and perhaps you'll get to know me and I'll get to know you.

Questions:

1. What are your New Year's Eve plans?
2. How tall are you?
3. What is your favorite pudding flavor?
4. What room of the house do you blog the most in?
5. What is your best physical feature?




1. What are your New Year's Eve plans?

My brother has organised for us to have an intimate family gathering in memory of my grandparents. They were originally from Scotland and they celebrated Hogmanay

2. How tall are you?

I think I'm about 165 or 166cm (about average I'd say) - we use metric in Australia so I've forgotten the Imperial equivalent is that about 5ft 6in?

3. What is your favorite pudding flavor?

Chocolate. No competition.

4. What room of the house do you blog the most in?

I have a kind of study/workroom/craftroom which I use. It was a study/school room when we homeschooled, but we usually home schooled all over the house & all over town. Now, I actually use it to blog and study - well the last few months anyway.

5. What is your best physical feature?

I'm not a good judge of that. Physical features mean very little to me when I judge myself and other people. Maybe my hair, as it is quite thick and can be quite nice when my daughter does it for me, but it can also be just tied up and sloppy. lol.

What else I'm doing...

Craft
I've been away a while, so apart from the Beaufort St piece. I crocheted my first Amigurumi, with a pattern from Irene Strange.

I'm totally in love with these little hearts and I can't stop crocheting them, which I mentioned before are from Pip at Meet Me at Mike's.

By the way, the treat boxes were a free printable from Speckless.
I knitted a bag for my niece.

I've also been doing the 30 Day crochet challenge on my Tumblr, which I may post here in one blog when I am finished.

Cooking
Now I really love holiday food, so I made some tiny plum puddings which are so easy. You just use a melon baller to make the plum pudding shape from a bought or pre-made pudding, then whack some melted chocolate on top and decorate with cherries, cashous or nuts.

I also made some chocolate hearts and I'm planning on making some fruit mince pies right now with a recipe for pastry from my Mum-in-law. If I get time there may be some spiced nuts and some cookies.

Reading
I have my holiday reading all ready.
"Trash" by Andy Mulligan which I won from Random House.
"Sex and the City" & "The Carrie Diaries" by Candace Bushnell which I borrowed from my gorgeous daughter.
"The Hours" by Michael Cunningham which was an op shop find and
"The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs which I borrowed from the library.

Family
I had my nephew over again and we made a rocket, flew around in space for a while and then came home to make tiny orange cakes from fresh orange juice, with sprinkles on top. Starchaser and I also went to his concert which was priceless and brought back lots of memories of my little munchkins and end of year concerts.

I discussed with my husband about organ donation - have you discussed your wishes with your loved ones? Do some research and have a think about it, and most importantly once you decide if you want to donate - tell your loved ones. They will make the final decision on your behalf.

We also donated some books and milk on behalf of the kids in our family because they all have lots of books and milk.

We got to try the new Macleans toothpaste for free and it's in a can - like shaving cream, which was pretty interesting.

Blogging
And lastly, I discovered BlogFrog which I have linked to in the sidebar and am in the process of meeting lots of new & interesting bloggers. Maybe give it a try.

One of those people is the lovely Nan from Be One Fine Day
who is hosting this blog hop. Nan has some lovely Thai recipes on her site.

Beaufort St Festival 2010

This blog post is sooo overdue. So please forgive me, I have had ISP issues and have also been really busy. But I'm back now.

At the end of November, I put a piece in the Beaufort St Festival for "Take A Knit Down Beaufort Street". They had some great yarn bombing installations and some framed pieces, covered objects like bikes and so much more.

I was a little "Johnny come lately" as I heard about it through Granny Funk and Captain Plaknit who has a blog about it here.
But they kindly gave me more information and Elaine at Behind the Monkey was so nice and welcoming as were all the people I met.

Starchaser (my son); the Butcher (hubby) and I had loads of fun in the morning helping some of the crafters by adding their pieces and pom poms to the trees and things up & down the street.

As for my piece:
Starchaser painted the frame for me, and the cat inspected his work.

So here is "A Mad Crafter's Tea Party" hope you like. There are more pictures in my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittykataquarius/sets/72157625536357887/

I had fun saying "Does this look like a rabbit's ear? Does this look like the Mad Hatter? and both the Butcher and Starchaser were really helpful with suggestions and ideas. Also, a big thank you to Pip from Meet Me at Mike's for her lovely heart pattern which features throughout, as it wouldn't be complete without the Queen of Heart's hearts. Her pattern can be found here.
When I asked permission to use her hearts in my piece (as it was the only pattern I copied) she was so lovely and gracious, asking for nothing in return and said I could use them with "gay abandon". Pip is so lovely to her readers, and has so many great ideas. If you don't follow her, you should.

Anyway, here's me and the Butcher at the Festival. :)

Bye for now.