Silver Springtime is now available in Australia through Amazon, Booktopia and Fishpond

Hi everybody:

My book Silver Springtime is now available on Amazon in e-book and paperback format. This book represents a long journey for me as a writer. There were snippets of wisdom I wanted to share in story form about being yourself, developing healthy boundaries and creating respectful relationships. The book has been polished for many years to achieve the desired result - realistic - but set in a fictional Inter-denominational Christian University, in a fictional town (placed in north-east Queensland, Australia), and filled with fictional characters.

Two sequels are planned, in which I change the narrative voice and tell the story of the main "group" of friends from the point of view of another member of the group. Surprising and exciting events occur in these sequels as the friends face challenges such as: domestic violence, teen suicide, career preparation, death of a loved one, illness in the family - plus engagement and marriage. Even I do not know all that will happen in book 3 yet, but book two is drafted, so if you get hooked on the series, you only have a few months wait for the next installment.

Silver Springtime on Amazon

Buy Silver Springtime from Booktopia

Buy Silver Springtime from Fishpond

Second try at Kindle Scout campaign: All for Love by Cecelia Hopkins

Well I was pleased with the buzz created by my first scout campaign and as I have several manuscripts written and ready to go on my home computer, I have submitted another story for review. Please visit and vote at: All for Love

Contestants rebel on reality television show!

“The Charity Dating Show” is a reality television show about one man who has multiple women to choose between. As a feminist contestant points out, this appears to be an archaic and unfair format which perpetuates patriarchal society. However the season Anthony is the "Charity Eligible” the contestants begin selecting their own prizes! Everyone wants something - ranging from fame and fortune to relationships with the production crew… Will anyone even choose the "Charity Eligible"?

Categories:
Literature & Fiction  ›  Humor & Satire  ›  General Humor
Literature & Fiction  ›  Women's Fiction  ›  Romance

Some interview questions from my campaign:

Q: Where did you get your inspiration?

A: I must admit, the idea came from watching dating shows, ranging from the old "Perfect Match" with Tony Barbour to the American "Bachelor". I actually wrote the manuscript before there was an "Australian Bachelor" and it was predictive in that sense - although the show has launched before my book, and gone through a number of seasons. 

Q: If this was filmed, who would you pick to act the parts?

A: Arnie Hammer from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. would make a good “Charity Bachelor”. A range of actresses would be required to represent all the personality types of the women involved in the story.

Q: What draws you to this Genre?

A: I love romance, I love romantic comedy and I love to laugh. This represented the chance to combine the pleasures.

First Kindle Scout Campaign:

I decided to do a Kindle scout campaign to find out how it works and get my name out there as a hopeful author. My novel Silver Spring-Time is described as:

 "A novel of coming of age in the 1980s.

The agony of unrequited love, dates, dresses and exams all make life confusing during the teen years... This story belongs to the genre known as "Bildungsroman" or novel of development. It covers one very significant year in the life of a young female by the name of Stephanie Lowood, and is presented a diary, which was discovered in a chest by the heroine's daughter and young grandchildren. The grandchildren are curious to hear how Grandma met Grandpa and what life was like in the 1980s!"

For a limited time, the first chapter is open to view at:

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1PAUPT98SQQY0

Some interview questions from my campaign:

Q. Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

A. I would have liked to have had more confidence when I was a young woman and if sharing my insights (in fictional form) helps empower any modern youth, I will be thrilled. It is all about becoming yourself - and being independent of others’ opinion.

Q. What draws you to this genre?

A.Self actualisation, growth and development are a major theme, so I guess I had to write something in this genre.

Q. This book is part of a series, tell us about your series.

A. I have thought about taking one of the other characters and making her the heroine of the next story. It seems to help finalise the current story to perceive a future for the characters. Perhaps if people enjoy this story, I will write the companion story.

Join my Course...

https://www.openlearning.com/courses/poetry-appreciation-and-analysis-skills

Your chances of success in English at school and/or university can be enhanced by an understanding of the technical terminology used for literary criticism. This course forms the equivalent of an intensive holiday coaching programme, and is available online at  all  times.  

 Who should do this course?

* Year 11 students preparing for Year 12 (final year of High School).

* Year 12 students looking for higher academic scores.* First year university students wanting to improve English literature grades.

* English Second Language or English Foriegn Language students wondering whether they would be comfortable in mainstream English courses.

* Interested persons who enjoy reading poetry!

Course modules will be based on the elements of poetry criticism.

Your school subjects may promise that you do not need to know academic terminology and high literature… but when exams are marked, it is likely that markers do know these terms and forms of literature and you will gain valuable marks by being able to use them yourself!

The final activity: submit a half to three quarter page (300-400 word) review on an individual poem.

(A series of such reviews could be collected together and submitted at school as an essay or portfolio suitable for Year 12 SACE or First Year University work).

UNFORTUNATELY THIS COURSE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. 

New book available on Amazon!

/Special-Pictures-Talk-About-mini-book

This book is designed to be used as a speech development aid, but can also be enjoyed as a picture book. It is designed to be used by a parent, carer or teacher, who asks the questions to the children in order of their complexity.  The target audience is all children under the age of five, especially children experiencing speech delay, autism spectrum or learning English as their Second Language. The images are original photographs taken  from different locations around South Australia. My friend and I spent two years locating subjects which were clear, interesting and appealing to very young children. This book is available for sale to the public through Gumtree, Ebay or Amazon.

Where do you think our dreams come from? What do you think they mean?

Last night I believe I was having a good sleep. Then I dreamt that I was in the Botanical Gardens doing an "observation". (This is an exercise done during university study/scientific research/or on-the-job reporting. It would be unusual to have a couple of hours observation of plants because they do not move or grow quickly enough, but my sleeping mind did not question this. )

I had an assortment of friends with me, none of them had to do the observation, they were just there for fun and company. A few of the males left to shift their cars, because apparently you are not allowed to park in the gardens after a certain hour nowadays according to my dream. I thought my car was fine, being in a legitimate parking spot close to the front gate, but after a while I got nervous and jumped onto a small motorbike I somehow had around my person and rode out to where I had parked the car.

The car was not in its space. One of my friends said they had to buy a ticket and I saw cars out on the on-street parking alongside meters. I went to the office/kiosk and asked about my car. They did a computer search and said it had been towed. I feared the account would be $250 but apparently it was $73. I was thinking even that was annoying and possibly filling out an appeal when I either awoke or moved out of dream mode.

According to Scientists, REM - Rapid Eye Movement - Sleep is the fifth stage of sleep. During this stage the large muscles are very still but the brain is very active. This theory would be in accordance to my feeling I slept well, because I went through all five stages of sleep, including the very deep ones. REM Sleep or dream sleep is very beneficial, if one sleeps poorly they may not reach that stage and may not have dreams. Often we have dreams but do not remember. (See http://www.happynews.com/living/sleep/rem-sleep.htm for one explanation of REM Sleep).

While this explains the mechanism of sleep, it does not explain the content. In my dreams I usually have an assortment of people with me, some of whom I have not seen for many years. They all strangely know each other, even if in real life they came from different areas of my activities and never met. Their friendship with me always seems current and solid. I never have trouble recognising them or have to reminisce and catch up. They are just with me and there for me.... Most other things are variables, and I can not make any more generalisations.

Cecelia