Search terms

I love to look at the search terms that lead people to my website. Many of them are straightforward, but some are strange, others are whimsical, and every now and then they are downright bizarre. I like to think about these people. Why were they searching for this term? Why did my little blog appear in their results? And what was it that inspired them to actually click through to my blog?

These are my favourite search terms from this month.

* Power of music and imagination * I am just writing you this letter * Cupcakes with messages * Paris flea Christmas * Storytelling and imagination * Crooked tree swing * Magic realism in life * I capture the castle excerpt * Flower blossom party

How do people find you? What are your favourite search terms?

My inner child hijacked my novel

Meet the child-Naomi. At the time this photograph was taken, her career goal was "superhero". Subsequent career plans included ballet dancer, marine biologist and princess. She also wanted to be an author. Apparently she wanted it so badly that she hijacked my novel.

I wrote about it in a guest post hosted by the wonderful Jenai over at Bookingly Yours. You can read it here.

Magical realism quiz

If a little boy at your local farmers' market suddenly sprouted a curly pig's tail, what would you do? Would you: a) Call an ambulance / call the media / call the police? [you are probably not in a genre novel]

b) Wave your magic wand, call your dragon-steed, and fly to a place where little boys only ever sprouted lovely peacocks' tails and never pigs' tails? [you are in a fantasy novel]

c) Think, "that's odd," then ask a nearby stall-holder if chilli peppers are back in season? [you are in a magical realism novel]

I was invited by the lovely Laura at The Book Tree to write a guest post on her blog. So I did a little metaphorical head-scratching, then came up with a theme I wanted to share. To whit: life, my friends, is a magical realism novel. And you can read it here.

Life is a magical realism novel

If a little boy at your local farmers' market suddenly sprouted a curly pig's tail, what would you do? Would you:

a) Call an ambulance / call the media / call the police? [you are probably not in a genre novel] b) Wave your magic wand, call your dragon-steed, and fly to a place where little boys only ever sprouted lovely peacocks' tails and never pigs' tails? [you are in a fantasy novel] c) Think, "that's odd," then ask a nearby stall-holder if limes are back in season? [you are in a magical realism novel]

I was invited by the lovely Laura at The Book Tree to write a guest post on her blog. So I did a little metaphorical head-scratching, then came up with a theme I wanted to share. To whit: life, my friends, is a magical realism novel. And you can read it here.

Merry month of May: week 2

(Image via)

I've just wrapped up Week 2 of my Merry Month of May blog tour, during which time I've tucked a virtual copy of Airmail under my virtual arm and toddled (virtually) around the world, via some wonderful literary blogs. It was a week that featured real magic, some lovely blog hosts and reviewers, a touch of creative inspiration, and bribery with baked goods.

* On Wednesday I perused The Australian Bookshelf, and shared my top tips for keeping that creative spark alive while writing for a living. I took inspiration from a fabulous artist I met a few years back, Irene Grishin Selzer, who maintains this same delicate balance of art and business for her hand-crafted jewellery line, Iggy & Lou Lou.

* Thursday was my day for relaxing in the shade of The Book Tree, where I shared the story of how I first discovered the literary genre 'magical realism', how it enchanted me, and how it helped me see the magic in my own (real) world. The link to this post keeps appearing and disappearing, and I am not tech-savvy enough to know what's going on. This is the link, but if it doesn't work and you really want to read the post, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

* Also reclining under The Book Tree was my lovely hostess Laura, who shared her review of Airmail, and is running a competition to win a free copy this month.

* On Friday, I headed back to 100 Stars or Less, the site of last week's guest post on pen pals, for Erika's review of Airmail. I recommend you pop on over too and give the review a read, not just because she enjoyed the book (which she did), but also because Erika is such a fun and entertaining writer that she takes you on her personal journey of reading this quirky story. Plus, she's also offering a free copy of Airmail.

* Finally on the weekend it was over to Alchemy of Scrawl, where writer and reviewer Coral Russell gave her opinion of Airmail in audio format. I may or may not have influenced Coral's opinion of Airmail by introducing her to the awesome deliciousness of hot cross buns over Easter. I am sure she is above such bribery. It is possible that I am not.

And that's a wrap for Week 2! See you soon.

The business of art

This is an excerpt from a guest post on The Australian Bookshelf. So really, you can just skip the rest and go straight to The Australian Bookshelf. What a good idea! Here's the link >>

Or, you can read on. And so:

It’s a common enough problem. For years, you dream of making a living as a writer, an artist, a musician… whatever creative passion floats your boat. But when your hobby finally becomes your career, the endless deadlines, clients and financial constraints sap your creative inspiration and motivation until you wonder why you entered this industry in the first place.

As a writer that’s certainly happened to me. More than once.

Some years ago, while editing a business magazine, I interviewed Irene Grishin Selzer, a sculptor and the artistic director of jewellery outfit Iggy and Lou Lou. Irene had an amazing capacity to separate out the business and artistic aspects of her career, while maintaining both.

So when Jayne Fordham of The Australian Bookshelf invited me to write a guest post on her website, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share some of what I learned from Irene for other artists of all shapes and sizes.

So, fellow artists, without further ado: get thee to The Australian Bookshelf to discover the top five tips for remaining an uncompromising artist while still making a living! (And when you get there, leave a comment at the end and say hi and thanks to your host Jayne. She's lovely).

Merry month of May: week 1

I've been a busy little blogger of late, touring all over town as part of my Merry Month of May virtual book tour.

* This is me when I was a kid, on my beloved pushbike. Around about this age, I had a pen-pal in New Caledonia. I've blogged about this experience, and the lost art of letter writing, and the advent of technology, on the wonderful website 100 Stars or Less (dedicated to supporting indie and emerging writers, how great is that!), as a guest of the lovely and gracious Erika. You can read the whole thing here.

* Then I headed on over to another fantastic and bookish website, The Book Diva's Reads, where I put the case that the novella (in other words a short novel) is due for a comeback in today's time-poor world. You can read that blog here, and read a review of Airmail by the Book Diva herself, Vivian, here.

* To start the month off, the online website that celebrates everything great about my local area (and-is-super-supportive-of-local-creatives-so-please-head-on-over-and-give-them-a-hoy-then-subscribe-or-follow-on-twitter-or-something-because-there's-always-something-interesting-going-on), *deep breath* Inner West Live, hosted an interview with me that you can read here.

* A couple of days later, the fantabulous Ashley (aka Ashton the Book Blogger) wrote a very kind (shall we say glowing?) review of Airmail, which you can read here, and which is still making me smile.

See you around the blog traps!

Naomi

Announcing Airmail's virtual book tour

My novella Airmail is about to undertake a whirlwind international tour. Virtually. If you're the type that likes reading new books but wouldn't mind hearing what others thought of them first, I have good news for you. Folks all over town are busy reading Airmail and preparing to give you their honest opinions (gulp).

For my part, I am pondering the ethics of sending out chocolate and baked goodies.

But in the meantime, if you'd like to read an honest, sugary-foodstuff-bribe-free review of Airmail, keep an eye on these websites in the coming weeks and months:

Alchemy of Scrawl Ashton the Book Blogger Author Exposure Book'd Out Booksie's Blog Chaotic Compendiums Dreamtime Book Discussion Literary R&R My Guilty Pleasures POD People Reading for Sanity Reading Review Silver's Reviews Spitpress The Book Diva's Reads The Book Tree The Phantom Paragrapher 100 stars or less 1000+ Books to Read

Sweet Sydney spitters

Here's why I love spitters today. I emailed a link to some photos of street art around Enmore/Newtown that I had taken to my fave creative mag Spitpress because I thought they'd enjoy the celebration of all things creative on our streets. Apparently they did. Then they went to the trouble of making my note into a blog post in which they said really nice things about me, and even gave a little plug for my book. I've only been promoting Airmail properly for a week, so that made the Spitpress mention my first mention. Extra special.

Best of all, they called me a Dynamo. A Dynamo! We will be friends forever.