Published in Undertow

I am now officially a published author. I know it has nothing to do with Bramblewood (one day my Ebony and Archibald stories will be published) but it is still a big deal for me. My first step on a road that was always off in the distance. There have been soo many times over the years where I thought I would never get to tread on it but here I am. Now for the second step.

On the 10th May 2014 Prana Writers had their book launch for Undertow - Tales from Outside the Flags. Over 70 people were in attendance and it was brilliant. All that hard work and dedication from all the members of Prana Writers plus other people who were associates. It had all paid off and now I actually have a hard copy of the book sitting in-front of me.

It is an anthology of twenty stories from twenty authors. My story is the very last one and it is titled

THE GHOSTS OF MY ANCESTORS.

If you would like to purchase a copy of Undertow you can do so by clicking here and go through the website of Prana Writers.

Using rarely-seen photographs Gold Coast writers were asked to conjured up twenty intriguing tales. The stories that appeared are so varied in their subject mater. 'A surfer becomes horrifyingly one with the sea. A ghost waits for her American husband at Springbrook. A failed developer gets his revenge and a corrupt bureaucrat finally pays his penance.'*

I am extremely proud to be a founding member of Prana Writers and to be associated with an extraordinary group of people.

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone involved in making a dream into a reality.

 * quote taken from the back of the book Gold Coast Anthology - Undertow - Tales from Outside the Flags.

Bundaberg Write Fest 2014

I have just returned from the Bundaberg Write Fest presented by Bunderberg Writer's Club. I had a fantastic time.
This is the third time I have been to the festival but it was the first time I was in a position to go to the Meet and Greet.
It was lovely to catch up with people and, of course meet new ones. One of the people I met was Louise Cusack.

Louis Cusack and me - Nicola Tierney at the Bundaberg Write Fest May 2014

 Louise presently is promoting her Shadow Through Time trilogy. They are eBooks and are available here.

Louise was my teacher over six years ago. In 2009 she convinced the the Gold Coast Council to run a 'Write that Kids Book.'  Sixty people applied but only sixteen where chosen. I was one of the lucky ones.
She looked at my work and said, "Yes, very nice BUT!" and told me to work on it. The next year our group (some people did not carry on through to this year) applied for a grant and asked Louise to teach us again. In 2011, we became the Prana Writers.

I have now been involved with Prana Writers of the Gold Coast for six years. They are a lovely bunch of people. I have been involved with many people, in many situations and committees but nobody like these. They are so supportive of everyone. They are like the family people dream of and this support has definitely paid off because several of them are published in one form or another.Also Prana Writers have published the e-book The Coral Sea Monster which raises money for the Children's Hospital. They won the State and National awards.
On the 10th May 2014 Prana Writers launched the Gold Coast Anthology - Undertow.
I am sure that when Lousie and the Gold Coast Council started on this journey they would never have thought we would go this far. I can't wait to see what we will do in the future.

One Saturday I went to Scott Baker's talk on Making Book Trailers That Buzz.

Scott Baker at Bunderberg Write Fest

I found this talk very interesting. He showed trailers he had made and we all wanted to know when the movie was coming out. We were astounded that it was going to be a book. I found the subject of colour fascinating. How to look at the emotion of watching book trailers and how to work out what it is you want to say.
His newest book is The Rule of Knowledge.

In the afternoon I went and listened to Jacque Duffy and her talk Capturing Kid's Interest in Chapter Books.
This was very relevant to me as I am writing a chapter book. I found it interesting. There is such a vast array of chapter books. She went into how they were thought of, written and for whom. Fascinating! She also had a display of a huge selection of books and I shall be purchasing a couple of them.
Her newest book is The Bear Said Please. 

Image used from Miss Marple's Musing Blog.

On Sunday I was chosen to attend the masterclass held by Jo Butler editor and former fiction publisher of Harper Collins.
This was very interesting hearing about the industry from someone who is inside it. I also had the opportunity to talk to Jo, on a one to one basis (as did everyone else who attended the class) about my Ebony story. This was something very special.
I'm sorry that I didn't get around to taking more photos.

Pleated Curtains

I make pleated curtains for my models.

Optic Fibers - Plants

Some Plants I Have Made

I thought you might be interested to see a couple of the plants I am creating. I have being playing with optic fibers. I was VERY fortunate to acquire an old optic fiber Christmas tree. I now have heaps all for the pittance of $3.00

The plants below are created out of pearl beads that have had their pearl essence removed with nail polish remover. I placed them all in a glass container with the nail polish remover and shook them up until most of the pearl essence had come off. I then cleaned them on some tissue.  I then drilled the holes a little larger. There is a trick to that! More than once the drill bit got so hot that it got stuck!

Once all of that was achieved I then covered the bead with a mixture of white and blue sand using Tiger Grip glue. I had covered some little green plant caps that I had around and placed them on a skewer and then covered them in sand. When dry I inserted the optic fiber and cut them to be level with the bead. I then stuck on the cap and silicone everyone in place. I have now found it much better to make a bunch of 'plants' and lay them facing up not sideways or down as I have these ones as the optic fiber does not want to go the way I want it to. I then covered the silicone with 'moss'.

Pearl Beads turned into Plants

These 'plants' have been created with small bundles of optic fiber which has then been pooled together over the top of one orange (been painted with red stain glass paint to make it darker) flickering LED bulb which is then surrounded in black shrink tubing to keep them together and to force the light up the fiber not out through the sides.

Another 'plant' I have created is the one below. This one is not completely finished as I just need to pull the optic fiber stamens into the middle. I thought you would like to see them at this point. These plants have been created out of two different fake plants and have seed beads glued to the tip of the optic fiber. These plants have long lengths of optic fiber so I can place them all over the model. I will do a bundle of 5 or 6 flowers (depending on how many optic fiber I can get into the black shrink tubing that sits over the one LED. I have not chosen a colour for that yet.


A Plant I have created using pieces
from two flowers, optic fiber and seed beads.

I have decided to keep one 'plant' and 'creature' that I create so that I can 'see' what it is I have created them out of as there are soo many that I forget.

I am going to set up a display of the original item and what I have created out of it. For instance someone gave me small Christmas bells (which i have not found since) and I have created a snail and four plants out of them.

Optic fibers lit by a blue LED bulb.