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Since everybody else has been writing about their debut novels, I thought I’d better write about mine. This is the story of how I got the idea that became The Heir.

Authors sometimes get their inspirations in the strangest of places. When it came to the idea for The Heir, my husband was responsible.

My husband thinks cheesy pick-up lines are funny, not that he ever uses them on anybody. (Lucky for him!) One day when we were driving to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for a holiday, he was trying to make me laugh by telling me his favourites. I was trying to think of some too, but I’m not good at that kind of thing. The only one I could think of was the line where the guy says to the girl, ‘you are the only reason I was put on this planet�.

As I thought about that, I imagined a guy saying to me, ‘You are the only reason I was put on this planet.�

‘Yeah, right,� I replied.

Then, in my head, that guy gave me an intense look. ‘No,� he said. ‘You are the only reason I was put on this planet.�

As I imagined that, I started to think about what it might mean if someone said that to a girl and meant it literally. He really was only on that planet because of her. Before I knew what was happening, the story was swirling around in my head and I spent most of our holiday thinking about it.

Within a few months I had the plot of The Heir figured out and outlines for what I knew would become two more books. Eventually, the story started knocking on the inside of my head, demanding that I let it out, so I sat down at the computer and started writing. It had been a while since I’d tried to write a novel, so I was a little stiff, but soon got going and enjoyed the experience immensely. I was fortunate enough to find a publisher relatively quickly and after many subsequent edits and to-ing and fro-ing in terms of the story, The Heir was published on 1st June 2013, just over three years after I started writing it.

My guest blogger today is Delia Strange. Delia was born in Auckland, New Zealand but now lives in Brisbane. She’d always been a reader, but when she was around ten she made a friend who loved to write stories. Once she started writing she didn’t stop.
In February 2014 she began an indie-publishing project for her science fantasy,ÌýFemme, which she wrote during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It was published in May this year. She is giving away a digital copy of Femme. Leave a comment to go into the draw to win!

My debut novel Femme came out of nowhere. That’s not to say it was uncorked from a genie’s bottle one day, given a wish or three, but there were other stories in front of it, other books. I had a young adult fantasy novel half written and fully outlined titled 13th Soul, I had a half-written horror mystery under the working title Rocking Chair and I was polishing a completed four book series of vampire books�Infusco—that I’d co-written, in the middle of which Femme was conceived and written. So yes, my science fantasy romance was an unexpected tale in an unexpected genre and not something I’d thought I would emerge with. My betting money was on the vampires.

Even though the novel came out of nowhere, the world of Femme didn’t. I’d invented it twenty years ago (without exaggeration), for a fantasy series called Wanderer of Worlds. I pulled my best friend Linda into the deepest place of my heart and entrusted her to share my love of writing. At the time she was a voracious reader with an expansive vocabulary and immaculate communication skills. Now she brings a level of sophistication to the work we create that I don’t believe I could accomplish on my own. She’s warm and lovely and easy to work with and talk to. After explaining the concept to her, she was hooked. We began our first steps into a fictional series that became a place we would continually revisit over the next twenty years.

During that time I added to the world of Femme but the original ambience and structure of the world remains. It is a technologically and scientifically advanced world, one that claims to exercise true socialism whilst at the same time adopting a culture of slavery—a setup filled with contradiction. There is strict immigration into a world that exercises a delicate political balance and I won’t give away too many of its secrets, because there are discoveries to be made for the reader who wishes to delve into it.

Surprisingly, the tone of the story is lightly written for a world that could be (and is) extremely dark. There is an undercurrent that I chose not to explore because the perception of a world depends on the visitor and my character wanted it to be utopian. We usually see what we want to see and Kaley Blackburn, my protagonist, was already in love with the idea of Femme before she visited.

Femme is a soft-science or science fantasy novel. I implied how certain machinations worked but didn’t explain them. I liken this to Star Trek and the lack of explanation as to how they ‘beam up�, experience ‘holodeck� and their interesting ‘stardate diary� times. Since there is ongoing debate as to whether or not Star Trek is hard sci-fi or science fantasy, let me point you to Wikipedia’s definition of science fantasy instead:

‘As a combination of [science fiction and fantasy], science fantasy gives a scientific veneer of realism to things that simply could not happen in the real world under any circumstances. Where science fiction does not permit the existence of fantasyÌýorÌýsupernaturalÌýelements, science fantasy explicitly relies upon them.â€�

I have fantastical elements in my novel so I can comfortably label it science-fantasy. There is a secondary plot (or primary plot, depending on what your interest is) of romance.

I’ve been interested to see that my novel has had the feminist label applied to it by readers on the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ website who shelved it under the feminism tag. (Note that’s only by those who indicated they wanted to read it rather than having read it). It seems they’ve arrived at this conclusion due to the title of the book and the concept of a world dominated by the feminine gender. I’m not surprised the assumption is there; I was aware of the obvious deduction. However, when a reader enters the world of Femme anticipating a feminist declaration, agenda or perspective they will discover the novel is just a story about first impressions.

And that’s something everybody can relate to.

My guest blogger today is Jo Wanmer. Jo loves being a Queenslander. She lives with her husband, Steve, on the northern outskirts of Brisbane. Together they run a small business and are associate pastors of a community of people known as Access Church.
She loves exploring the wonder of God’s creation on her early morning walks, going on adventures with her eight grandchildren, and preaching the powerful Word of God
Jo’s first book, Though the Bud be Bruised, won the Caleb award in 2011 for Best Unpublished Fiction Manuscript. Published on 1st June 2012, it has bought hope and healing to many who have read its challenging story. Jo is giving a copy of Though the Bud be Bruised away. Just leave a comment below to enter.
Jo is an accomplished speaker and preacher.
You can contact her on [email protected] or check the book trailer on her blog at

I wanted to write for years. Not to write a book but to tell my story.Ìý As a family we’d walked a tough road but through that experience I found a real God. God was no longer the deity I read about in the Bible. He became a friend I could fight with, challenge and hear.

He did miracles in our family. They never happened the way I demanded and were always much slower at manifesting than I considered reasonable. But they happened and I was both amazed and thankful. He gave us a victory over the hidden and destructive evil that crept into our family.

Several times I tried to write this story but it was always wooden, boring and lifeless. If I was bored, who was going to be interested enough to read it?

On holidays, exhausted after a demanding time in ministry, I read three novels in four days. The thought came like a whisper.

‘Write your story as a novel.�

It was crazy, as I knew nothing about writing novels, but as I contemplated the idea it had merit. My family, friends and acquaintances would be hidden under fictional characters while the truth was related.

Taking my courage in both hands, I began. Page after page rolled out. These words had life. With determination, I set goals and finished the first draft in five months.

An opportunity for a writers� mentorship opened before me and I was privileged to spend a week with Mary Hawkins, who patiently taught me how to write so the story would be a compelling read. I returned from the mentorship and formed another set of goals. I rewrote the entire book in the next six months.

Though the Bud be Bruised was published by Even Before Publishing in June 2012. Since then I have written another novel and the third one is nearing completion. To my surprise, I find I have a voice! Story writing is a powerful way of imparting important spiritual truths. It was Jesus� chosen method and the Holy Spirit continues to lead me this way.

Writing is hard, slow work. What I produce in a hundred hours can be read in an hour or two. But it is worth it if even one reader is touched by the amazing love of God.

Today my guest blogger is Rosanne Hawke. Rosanne is the author of over twenty books, among them Shahana, The Messenger Bird, the winner of the 2013 Cornish Holyer an Gof award for YA literature, and Taj and the Great Camel Trek.
Rosanne is also the winner of the 2012 Adelaide Festival Children’s Literature Award for Taj and the Great Camel Trek. Her other books include Marrying AmeeraÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýSoraya the Storyteller, which was shortlisted in multiple Australian awards in 2006.
Rosanne was awarded an Asialink Fellowship to write in Pakistan in 2006 and the Carclew Fellowship in 2008. Rosanne was an aid worker In Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates for ten years and now teaches Creative Writing at Tabor Adelaide. She is a bard of Cornwall and lives in rural South Australia in an old Cornish farmhouse with underground rooms.
She is giving away a copy of her book, Zenna Dare. To enter, leave a comment below.

My first book published wasn’t the first I wrote. My first manuscript (a story set in Afghanistan that I’d told my thirteen-year-old daughter while we lived in Pakistan) was winging its way around Australia and more often back to me. One rejection letter stated, ‘We like your story and your writing but we want stories set in Australia. If you write one of those we’d like to see it.�

No one told me how to interpret rejection letters, but I knew I held in my hand a ticket through the ‘eye of a needle� publishing gate. I started that very day on a story that had been bubbling in my head about a girl who had been brought up in Pakistan but returned to Australia to attend high school.

When I’d written the first few chapters I sent them to the publisher to check I was on the right track. They replied, ‘Send a synopsis and the whole manuscript. We’d like to read it.� I hadn’t finished it and still didn’t know what would happen at the end, but that letter made me work harder and I hoped they would be busy enough not to notice that I hadn’t sent the manuscript straight away. It only took the publisher a month to accept it; they even rang. I can remember what date it was, where I was and with whom. That book became Re-entry, a story about fourteen-year-old Jaime Richards and the culture shock she felt. It’s a snapshot of Australian culture from the outside in by someone who should belong and doesn’t, and what it means to be Australian, issues my family were grappling with at the time.

Re-entry became a Notable Book in the Children’s Book Council Awards of Australia and was shortlisted in the CROW awards and picked up by Scholastic Book Club. Reviews were favourable and one called it a powerful book dealing with multiculturalism and racism. It was used in schools as a text and in workshops on culture shock for teenagers. It was an encouraging start to my writing career. A dear lady had a word of prophecy for me and confirmed my call to write.

Later, Re-entry was republished as the first title of a trilogy called Borderland which sold out in a year and sadly wasn’t reprinted. Secondhand copies never seemed available and I received requests about where to find the book. So it’s very exciting to say that it will be published again next year by Rhiza Press, with a new title: Jamie’s Border, as the first of a series of four books about Jaime and her travels.

This week my guest blogger is Adele Jones. Adele lives in Queensland, Australia. Her writing is inspired by a passion for family, faith, friends, music and science � and her broad ranging imagination.
A strong believer in embracing life’s journey, Adele delights in sharing that adventure with others, be that through the pages of a story or engaging in a social or professional context. Through her broad personal and professional interests, she has welcomed diverse engagement opportunities, including science based student experience sessions, conference presentations, literary readings and musical exploits.
With a long standing interest in historical fiction, Adele based her Master’s dissertation on this topic and is currently anticipating release of her first novel in this genre, A Devil’s Ransom (). She has also had a variety of poems, short stories, inspirational meditations, devotions and magazine articles published. Her first YA novel, Integrate, was awarded the 2013 Caleb Prize for unpublished manuscript and is due to for release in September 2014.

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Perez. Okay, it’s a little abstract, but that’s how I would best describe the publication journey of my first novel. Well, novels. Those who know the peculiar circumstances surrounding this Biblical account would remember the story of Judah and Tamar’s twins. The baby who seemed to be on the way first was pushed aside by the one expected to be born second.

You see, I’ve been expecting a book release for a while. A Devil’s Ransom, a historical maritime romance, was due sometime ago, but extraneous circumstances required the original release date be delayed. I understand this can happen in the publishing world, so while awaiting movement on that novel, I decided to write a science based young adult manuscript in a month. Midway through my goal, it was announced an unpublished manuscript prize was, that year, accepting children’s and YA fiction with a word limit of what I was aiming for.

Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

Madly I tapped out words around a hectic work schedule, edited in snippets of time the following month, and submitted Integrate for the award. It was so different from the methodical construction of A Devil’s Ransom. That work had developed from a dream over a period of fifteen years involving much research, writing, rewriting, more research, developing my writing skills through further study and of course, more rewriting and associated research. After a period in the writing wilderness of disappointment and releasing my dreams to the ultimate dream maker, I was offered a contract. Finally, my first novel would be published.

Then, just like Perez breaking through the expected birth order, Integrate was awarded the CALEB unpublished manuscript prize and a whirlwind dash towards publication ensued! Now its release is imminent with the novels already printed � before the official release of my first ‘baby� A Devil’s Ransom.

In a way I feel Integrate’s journey is fitting, given the amazing, live-life-to-the-max young adults the story has been written for. I’m also a great believer in timing � a lesson I’ve had to learn over and again as a writer. My first novel twins are certainly at polar ends of the personality spectrum, but with their different strengths I’m convinced they will each bring their own unique message to their readers � in due time.

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Today my guest blogger is award-winning author, Paula Vince. A wife and homeschooling mother of three, she resides in the beautiful Adelaide Hills of South Australia.
Her novel, Picking up the Pieces, won the religious fiction section of the 2011 International Book Awards. Her novel, Best Forgotten, was winner of the 2011 CALEB Award in the fiction category and also recognised as the best overall entry for the year, chosen over memoirs, devotionals and general non-fiction. Paula’s books are a skilful blend of drama and romance tied together with elements of mystery and suspense. Find out more at
Paula is the author of Picking up the Pieces, The Risky Way Home, A Design of Gold and Best Forgotten. Her new novel, Imogen’s Chance, was published in April 2014.
Paula is also one of the four authors of The Greenfield Legacy.
Paula is giving away a copy of Picking up the Pieces to someone who comments on this blog. Leave a comment below and you will go into the draw to win.

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My first published book was Picking up the Pieces. It is still one of my personal favourites, even though I wrote it such a long time ago.

At the time, I’d been reading several novels with villains who were easy to hate. They came across with no conscience and seemed to love committing crime for the sheer pleasure of doing harm. In each case, they were condemned by the heroes and brought to justice. I had the impression that we readers were supposed to cheer about the removal of a menace. The repetition of this pattern started to bother me a bit, because it seemed to promote the sort of sad, vicious circle nobody wants to be part of. Condemnation for actions committed may add to a person feeling worthless and bitter, which in turn, may make them more likely to commit further crimes in the future.

I wanted to see another sort of story, where the perpetrator of a vicious action is treated with love and understanding. I wished somebody would write one, but as the idea stayed with me, I thought I’d make it my hobby for that year. I wanted to explore the notion that an essentially good-hearted person may snap and commit a horrible crime, totally out of character, on the spur of the moment.

I had two little children at the time. I’d drop my son off at kindy, drive my baby daughter to sleep, then park somewhere nice and quiet to work on it until kindy pick-up time. The main theme was a date rape situation and my mission was to get people feeling equal sympathy for Claire and Blake, the two main characters. I remember anxiously asking my earliest readers, ‘How do you think Blake comes across?� I wanted to hear that, although he’d committed an unthinkable crime, they loved him. I wanted the nature of God’s forgiveness and embracing love to shine through.

There have been several ‘moments� on the journey of Picking up the Pieces and I’ll share a few.

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Coincidental Moment

After writing the novel, I had no clue how to set about getting it published. I’d read the books of another South Australian author, Meredith Resce, and thought she would be interesting to talk to. I took my courage in my hands because she was a stranger, found her number in the public phone directory and gave her a call. She was willing to advise me and thought my name sounded familiar. After thinking about it, she realised she’d already read some of my writing, which a friend of a friend had lent to her. Meredith asked me to let her read Picking up the Pieces. Two days after dropping the manuscript off to her house, she phoned me, equally as excited as I was to see it in print.

I call that a serendipitous moment. We’ve been good friends ever since and even worked on a collaboration together with two other Australian authors in 2012.

Funny Moment

That first print run of 2000 copies in the year 2000 sold out and the novel was unavailable for almost a decade. In 2010, my new publisher decided to re-publish it with a brand new cover. When I read through the story searching for possible changes to make, I didn’t expect to find that technology needed to be updated often. In 1999 when I wrote it, I still had characters walking around looking for public pay phones and listening to cassettes which they had to manually turn over.

Shocking Moment

A lady came past a book stall I’d set up, looked at Picking up the Pieces and said, ‘That’s the book that almost split our church in half.� It seems her pastor, who hadn’t read the story but knew its theme, wanted it off their church library shelf. ‘We just want good, wholesome books. We have to draw the line somewhere,� he and his supporters said. The church librarian and her supporters were convinced that it was a sound, convicting, deeply touching and life-changing story which everybody should read. At first, I was horrified to think it caused divisions among church members, but friends suggested that good Christian novels with challenging themes cannot help doing that very thing. They draw the best and worst from their readers and help reveal what may be in people’s hearts.

Proud Moment

After being out of the market for all that time and freshly published, Picking up the Pieces won first prize in the religious fiction section of the International Book Awards for 2011, an honour won by a Karen Kingsbury novel the following year.Ìý

I think all of this is what helps this book keep a special place in heart. I like to think that people may still be reading it for many years to come.

This week my guest blogger is Jeanette O’Hagan. Jeanette has practiced medicine, studied communication, history and theology and has taught theology.ÌýShe has had a passion for telling stories and writing them since primary school and loves wondering about people, why they are the way they are, what motivates them, their hopes and dreams. She is currently caring for her children, enjoying post-graduate studies in writing at Swinburne University and writing herÌýAkrad fantasy fiction series ().ÌýShe is actively involved in a caring Christian community.
You can find her on her Facebook pageÌýor webistesÌýÌý,ÌýÌýÌý& .

Thanks Lynne, for having me on your blog. I’ve enjoyed reading the other blogs in this series. It is fascinating learning about the different journeys of other writers.

My passion is writing faith-inspired fantasy, poetry and memoir/biography. I am a few thousand words away from completing the first draft of my fourth full manuscript in the fantasy series Akrad’s Children. I also love to blog on life and faith, books and films, and the writing journey.

You asked me how I came to write my first book.

It started with a dream I had in my early twenties and when I say dream, I mean that literally. I dreamt about a young girl standing by a fountain and holding up a lamp in the night. She was calling for a wild creature to come to her and was surprised by what happened next. It was such a vivid dream that I kept the story going even after I had woken up and over the next several months I followed the trail of imagination. The story became part of the world I had begun creating at the age of ten. I began to write the story down � in notepads, on spare pieces of paper, in gaps of time until one day I had a first draft. I even devised a sequel.

Some years later, I revised it and a friend typed it out for me. I sent it off to two publishers and one loved the story and main character but then decided it wasn’t the type of book they published. So my first book languished in a computer file, while life in the form of a career change and having a family took over.

A few years ago, my life took a new direction and I revisited my passion to write, enrolling in a Graduate writing course and dusting off my old manuscript. I revised the book a couple times more � and then began writing a prequel.

The writing is the easy part and the most joyous. Finding a publisher has not been a fairy tale experience for me but I realise that I’m not alone in this. So I keep writing. I have another two books plotted out and some ideas for short stories. I keep learning my craft through my course, conferences, workshops, networking and web pages. I keep knocking at doors. And most of all, I keep trusting God to guide wherever this journey may lead me.

I was tagged by LaVerne St George to participate in the Writing Process World Hop. Laverne trained as an information specialist and has published several romance novels. Meanwhile she worked in universities, on US naval bases, in government consulting firms and in the pharmaceutical industry. She’s moving back into romance-land and writing and publishing sweet and inspirational romances. You can find out more about her at her website:
Here’s a bit about me for those of you who are new to me: My name is Lynne Stringer and I have been passionate about writing all my life, beginning with short stories in my primary school days. I began writing professionally as a journalist and was the editor of a small newspaper (later magazine) for seven years, before turning my hand to screenplay writing and novels. I currently work as a professional editor and proofreader. I live in Australia with my husband and young son.

What am I working on?

I have just started writing a new novel tentatively called How Far Forgive. I was going to call it Bridging the Gap, but have decided to revert to its original title. It is a reworking of a story I wrote in the nineties but never tried to publish. It tells the story of an eighteen year old girl who goes through a traumatic experience and has to learn to forgive the people involved.

Why do I write what I do?

I usually get an idea and am compelled to write it by something inside me. That doesn’t mean writing it is easy, although sometimes it is. It can take a bit to work through all the details of the idea. It’s usually fun, though!

How does my writing process work?

I’m not one for writing outlines or huge character descriptions if I can avoid it. I usually have a sense of where I’m going that I hold in my head. Some things in the story still take me by surprise, but usually my direction is more or less clear. It has been known to deviate, though.

If this is the first time you’ve visited my website, feel free to look around and check out The Verindon Trilogy. The last book in the series, The Reign, was released in May this year.

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This blog hop will be continuing with two other authors next week. You can check them out at the links below:

Andrea Grigg grew up in Auckland, New Zealand, but has lived more than half her life in Australia.

Her debut contemporary romance novel, A Simple Mistake, was a finalist in the CALEB Awards 2012. Her second novel, Too Pretty, will be released August 1 2014 by Rhiza Press.

Andrea lives with her husband on Queensland’s Gold Coast, where they have raised their three adult children � two daughters and a son.

Recently retired from teaching ten-year-olds, if she isn’t being a domestic executive or socialising, Andrea can be found in her cave, writing stories. You can check out her blog at:

Penny Reeve always knew she wanted to be a writer but never believed it would happen. Growing up as the child of missionaries in Arnhem Land (North Australia), Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, she had an interesting childhood!

After finishing school she studied to become a primary school teacherÌýand thenÌýmarriedÌýher prince charming, Richard Reeve. Penny, Richard and their two children lived in Pokhara, Nepal, for five amazingÌýyears and this was the location and inspiration behind the book Himalayan AdventuresÌýand much of her other writing.

These days Penny lives and writes in western Sydney, Australia.ÌýÌýYou can check out her blog at:

Today my guest blogger is Andrea Grigg. ÌýAndrea grew up in Auckland, New Zealand, but has lived more than half her life in Australia. ÌýShe loves words, finding out what makes people tick, and romance. Her debut novel, A Simple Mistake, is a contemporary romance, and was a finalist in the Caleb Awards 2012. Her second novel, Too Pretty, will be released August 1. She is giving away a copy of Too Pretty to a commenter on this blog. Leave a comment below and you will enter the draw to win.

Hi everyone.

Before I start sharing part of my writing journey, let me say a big thank you to Lynne for having me as her guest today. I consider it a privilege to be asked.

Even though I wrote loads of stories as a child, I never thought I’d be a published author. Music was always my thing, so when I got bitten by the writing bug, no one was more surprised than me! Here’s how it happened �

Back in 2005, my friend’s son was a drummer in a high school band. Amazingly, after a relatively short time, the band got picked up by Virgin/EMI Records Australia and went international. They also won an ARIA!

And that’s where the idea came from for my first book, A Simple Mistake. What might happen to a young man if he shot to stardom in a short space of time? What if he had a steady girlfriend and he had to leave her behind?

Now, before I go any further, it needs to be said that the Nick in my story bears little resemblance to my friend’s son, other than his age at the time of his initial success. He was simply a catalyst, for which I’m very grateful!

Anyhow, this idea simmered and bubbled around in my head for quite a while. And the longer it ‘cooked� the keener I became to give it a try. So one afternoon, around the end of February 2008, I put fingers to keyboard.

I remember typing that all-important ‘Chapter One� at the top of the page and thinking, ‘I wonder how far I’ll get.� By the time I’d finished those first few pages, I was hooked!

No one could have prepared me for the thrill of having my characters take over. I’d be writing dialogue and my brain would want to write one thing, but my fingers would type another because that’s what Lainey or Nick would have actually said. I sometimes laughed out loud, felt sick when they were in the middle of relationship woes, even had tears rolling down my cheeks a couple of times. Addictive, to say the least!

It took me sixteen months to write the first draft. I was teaching full time back then and I used to come home, cook dinner for my family and then scuttle upstairs to my cave for a couple of hours before bed.

Once I’d finished, I had no idea what to do. I searched on the internet for a Christian writing group and came across Omega Writers in Brisbane. Anne Hamilton read my first three chapters, told me I could write � I can’t describe how it felt to hear those words from someone who knew what they were talking about! � and then introduced me to Rochelle Manners of Even Before Publishing.

Rochelle suggested I apply for a mentorship week to be held on the Sunshine Coast and it was the best thing ever. I was assigned to the wonderful Mary Hawkins, and she was a tremendous mentor. We worked so hard on that manuscript, cutting words, rearranging, brainstorming � I loved it.

I submitted my manuscript to Rochelle in the first week of January 2011 and signed a contract a month later. After months of rewrites and edits, I came home from a particularly hard day at work to find a package on my doorstep. Holding my novel in my hands for the first time was a wonderful feeling!

Everyone’s journey is different, and this one just happens to be mine. I hope I’ve inspired some of you to keep going, keep trying, and of course, keep writing!

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This week’s guest blogger is Elaine Fraser, author of the Beautiful Books: Beautiful: beauty tips for the soul, Too Beautiful: more beautiful tips for the soul; also the author of the Beautiful Lives Series: #1 Perfect Mercy, #2 Love, Justice (Out Spring 2014), #3Amazing Grace. Find out more at:
Elaine is offering a copy of her book, Perfect Mercy, as a giveaway. Just comment on this blog and you will be entered into the draw!

My first book, Beautiful: beauty tips for the soul came out in the summer 2004. I had a beautiful book launch at a rose farm in the hills of Perth, Western Australia.

The sun set over the roses as the pianist played jazz tunes, wine was sipped and friends and family surrounded me.

After a busy year of working as the principal of a primary school, I was exhausted, and the night passed by in a happy blur.

Signing copies of the book felt embarrassing—as if I were playing the role of an author in a play. However, this wasn’t make-believe—it was real. Seeing the book in the hands of over a hundred people was thrilling.

Afterwards, getting orders for the book from bookstores, being invited to speak at schools and going on to sell out three print runs of the book all felt amazing.

However, opening the package of advance print copies� three weeks before the launch� was magical. Inhaling the new book scent, and seeing my name in print was a moment I will never forget.

There was a book, filled my thoughts and ideas—with my name on it, and it was beautiful.

We have those moments in life we cherish� graduation day, wedding day, the birth of a child, climbing a mountain, our first kiss, traveling to exotic locations—but the moment when you see your book in print for the first time is priceless.