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P O Box 1953, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450 www.coffsharbourwriters.comWriter’s NotesNewsletterJanuary 2022.
Letter From the Secretary.Well, goodbye Silly Season, and things are calming down. For the last fewweeks, I’ve been channelling the Great Prophet Zarquod — all sorts of thingscropping up, so this newsletter is coming out much later than originallyanticipated.It’s funny, isn’t it, how the work expands to fill the time in this season. Allthose resolutions, most of them broken, or forgotten, in the first two weeks afterwe’ve made them.Do we need them though? Goals are good, goals are great BUT aswriters, we are creative souls, and creative souls need downtime. We need torest and reflect, not just on our ambitions, but also on who we are, what we wishto accomplish. Or just simply on how the light reflects from the scales of abutterfly’s wings.On a happy note Julie O’Halloran has managed to procure us a room at theCommunity Village, and so our meetings should resume next month. We’re backto a Wednesday, and the first meeting of 2022 will be on the 23rd of February.Hoping to see you all then.Kim.
FOR JANUARY.Anyone in the group that I don’t have a birth month for —this one’s for you.
Panic To Calm.ByJulie O’Halloran.Can we be both wise & foolish, in this world?Lights are on, yet quality is lacking.One may not exist without the other.We must trust ourselves, completely.Following the light within, encourages dealing withShadows of the past, present, future.Solving problems, finishing tasks, represents —YOU!Healing has begun.YOU are the Captain of your ship.Ability to make decisive change.Let go of what does not serve you.Completion worthwhile.Necessary, lifetime effects.Accomplish, readily, understand.Dripping of blood, through pulsating veinsOf the heart.Our thoughts.Now our light is to penetrate darkness.This becomes clear, in a slow process, of joy.Moving the soul —For a clear path ahead.Talents blossom, tree of life, creates your complete shape.
Bridges, to connect, loneliness, despair, grief.A place, to quieten the heart.Taking part in this world once again.Mind, at a better pace.Birds singing, ducks, floating by.A rustling, in the bush.Notice surroundings, a dragonfly skims the water.Birds come for a drink, some for a swim.A soft ripple washed over the pebbles.A Kingfisher, with vibrant colours, orange and blue.My heart is in a better place.A wild duck flies on by, in a hurry.A cool breeze covers my being —rich, in Mother Nature.A butterfly, flutters overhead.This is a good mix, when life becomes too much.
The Salvation Army Concert.The first six years of Coffs Harbour Musical Comedy Company was a veryenjoyable period for me. One lead roll and seven or more support roles, in whatwere mostly the big name stage shows of the day, kept me very busy indeed. Ihad never had any formal voice training, so I commenced singing lessons with adelightful lady, Yvonne Landow, who conducted a teaching facility in theSalvation Army hall.Yvonne was a totally devoted member of the ‘Salvos’. She lived it, she breathed it,and she practiced it - 24/7. You could easily see that she was a corner stone ofthe local church congregation. She used every opportunity to display herstudents – and, quite unashamedly, took those opportunities to promote theSalvo’s.From guest solo appearances at Sunday Worship to the century old familyconcerts, Yvonne constantly had her students in the public eye.On one auspicious occasion celebrating some form of Church milestone, Yvonneput on a ‘star studded’ concert featuring her students, all ‘legends in their ownlunchtime’!I was asked to prepare a medley of my choosing to fill a ten-minute slot.Everyone else had various assignments, so I figured I should support the teameffort.After a ponderous few days I resolved to write a script with an Irish theme, usingtraditional Irish songs and (obviously) interspersed with Irish jokes.It was a ‘Dave Allen’ styled presentation - put to music. Obviously, I was notprepared to sacrifice half a finger and the regular “squaffing” of scotch would notbe in good taste. The script was prepared, a tall stool, plus a lectern for promptnotes and a cheeky Irish outfit to set the atmosphere and I felt more than readyto do my bit for the ‘gig’.A week before the concert I attended my singing lesson. Yvonne nervouslybroached the subject with obvious embarrassment, “Tom, do you have a writtencopy of your script”? . A copy of the script was immediately handed over –complete with every word I intended to utter. “I’m sorry to do this but theCaptain wants to keep a firm control on anything presented publicly under theChurch’s banner.” she said nervously.
I assured her that this was totally OK with me and not to let it be a matter ofconcern.Next week’s lesson was the day before the concert. Yvonne’s brow was nowdeeply furrowed: Painfully she braced herself, then blurted out - “Tom, theCaptain has a couple of queries and changes he would like in your act.” I askedwith growing concern.“Yvonne, what seems to be the problem”?“The first song ‘If your Irish come into the Parlor’. The Captain wants to knowwhat that means? The name Parlor can mean lots of things.”I defended this one staunchly: “ It’s an Irish living room in their home whereguests are received”. I went on to reinforce the warmth, friendship and socialcomfort that I hoped to engender. It seemed that I had successfully defended thesong.“Captain also questioned the appropriateness of the joke about the alligator”Quickly I ran my mind through the joke, which was:A drunk was walking down an inner-city street in Belfast, leading analligator on a string. When he came to a pub he looked nervously leftand right, then asked the bartender; “Do you serve Catholics”?The bartender replied; “Sure to be sure, come on in now”.“Good” said the drunk “make mine a pint and my alligator will have aCatholic”.Now I must admit that I had considered the fact that we now live in anecumenical age and that we should be making efforts to heal the ancient “Orangeand the Green” conflict. After all, worldwide, Christianity is still a minorityreligion – we should respect each other. Show a united front – so to speak. Imade a snap decision and said:“I see the problem, let’s cut the alligator joke”. Then, Yvonne addedenthusiastically: “The Captain has a solution”; I paused expectantly.“Salvationist’s can’t be seen to endorse alcohol consumption, so the Captainsuggested that if the setting was not a Pub, but a Milk Shake Café, it would beOK”.
I did my best not to laugh!The gig went ahead – minus the alligator joke.Tom Strickland. OAM 5th January 2014.
Opportunity Knocks.An opportunity for those interested to join in:Sponsored by The Eremos Institutehttps://www.eremos.org.au/Thank you for your support and interest in theIntensive Journal workshops in Australia thisyear.It's been a wonderful year for our program with over 100people from 6 different countries participating in the 11workshops we offered.I look forward to welcoming you again andmany new participants in 2022.Explore the workshopsscheduled so far.(More workshops will be scheduled)https://www.eremos.org.au/events
Start the year with a fresh perspectiveLife Context Workshop (Part I) OnlineSaturday and Sunday 12-13 February 202210 AM - 5:30 PM AEDT each day.This introductory workshop enables you to develop an inner perspectiveon the movement of your unfolding life process. Gain greater awarenessof the continuity and direction of your life.Early bird discount of 20 for all registrations by 15 January.Register and more informationIn Person workshops are back!Life Context (Part 1) offered in 2locationsAdamstownKingscliff(Newcastle area)Northern NSWFriday and SaturdayFriday and Saturday18th and 19th March13-14 May 20229.30 - 5.00 each day.9.30 - 5.00 each day.Read moreRead more
Advanced Online WorkshopOnline Depth Contact(Part II)Saturday and Sunday23 - 24 April10:00 am – 5:30 pm each dayPrerequisite: Life Context workshop (Part I)More details: Depth Contact OnlineParticipants' remarks about theworkshop leader, Kate Scholl“Kate created a safe space for ‘the soul to emerge”."Kate's capacity to be non-judgmental is veryimpressive. She balances a serious work with a lighttouch, and makes people feel safe in exploring innerdepth".“Kate is a gentle and gracious leader. She explainedeverything well and guided us beautifully.”“I appreciated Kate’s relaxed and easy manner. Sheprovided a safe, warm, and inviting environment.”
Where ever you find yourself this holidayseason, may there be solace, stillness, andconnection."The meaning of life cannot be told; it has to happen to aperson" Ira Progoff Please share this newsletter with colleagues, friends, andassociates who may like to know about these workshops.Don’t want to receive notices about the Intensive Journal in Australia?Just click unsubscribe below.Click here to email Kate with questions or comments.Some information from Shadley:More news about NAC.Our Postal Address is: NAC Literary AgencyP O Box 865St IvesNSW 2075Australia
Blog Stars.www.adriemer.com.auA D Riemer blogs for the beginning and emerging writer.Hints, tips and motivation all in (mostly) three minutereads.A D has a BA, with a double major in writing, and has hadwork featured in both newsletters and magazines, and hasalso appeared in an anthology of short stories, TheLeaves of Life.When not blogging A D is busily writing the nextinstalment of The Case Files of Captain JacquelineO’Nighall (Ret.)Volume One: The Cursed Templar Gold is available now onAmazon. ertheassassin.blogspot.com/Roger Harris.ShadleyFataarWriter.comLiving with Apartheid in the Shadow of Table Mountain,Cape Town.Visit the Coffs Harbour Writer’s Group for Shadley’sbiography.Shadley’s latest blog link: ShadleyFataarWriter.com. Blogging at: Living withapartheid in the Shadow of Table Mountain, Cape Town.
Search And Research.ByA D Riemer.By now, if you’ve been following along, you should be well on your way tobeing a productive writer with the ideas flowing — written in your Bible, ofcourse, and a serene and inspirational workspace. If you had a well-oiled systembefore then read no further, go make a cup of tea, play some badminton, orcribbage BUT sometimes a fresh set of eyes will make you aware of a problem that youdidn’t even know you had. So from this point, it is your choice to continuereading or not.This time we are going to have a more in-depth look at research: do’s/don’ts, etc, along with what it is and isn’t.To define research exactly, it is, according to the Oxford Dictionary:The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources inorder to establish facts and reach new conclusions.Which is a wordy and kinda pompous way of saying that you want to findout about stuff.How do you keep track of the stuff that you find though? Digital, orphysical? We’ll take a look at both of these options in the following paragraphsand discuss some pro’s and cons, before I explain the hybrid system that worksfor me — it may not work for you, and that is perfectly fine, to each their own.For myself, I prefer paper all the way. The act of turning pages helps youremember the details of what you have read, plus books, especially old bookssimply smell nicer. For more information, here is an article on that topic:
59522wwwroughttype.com/?p 8755Physical pages in the shape of an article can also be highlighted,underlined, annotated, or otherwise scribbled on and, if you are one of thosepeople — the sort who does not use a bookmark, if you know what I mean — youcan also do this with a physical book. #donotdefacelibrarybooks.If you choose to use an online version be very aware of your source.Both of these examples come from Wikipedia, this is an extremelycomprehensive source for just about everything, but since anyone can go in andedit well, you can see the results.Always verify everything, use a secondary source, and a tertiary ifpossible. ALWAYS write down where you found that interesting snippet — youmay wish to venture there again in search of more gems.If you use a lot of quotes, then a pile of file cards grouped by type aregoing to be your new best friends. Some of your categories may be things like:inspiration, or questions, for example, you get to decide how and where you willbe using them. Write the quote, the page number and the source on your file cardand you’re good to go. If you’re writing for more academic, or professionalreasons, I’ve already covered how to cite your sources in a previous article.For what are you searching, exactly? It always helps to have clearlydefined search parameters in mind, or the search engine is akin to predictivetext; hideous, messy and never exactly what you want. For example, a writingfriend who is just starting out sent me a frantic message asking me if I knew
what the word for whirlpool was — in the fourteenth century i I suggested afew variants, and then asked if she had tried Google.“It didn’t give me anything,” she wailed, with sad face emojis.So my next question was, “Did you put the word etymology in the searchparameters?”I took my own advice and tried it — and there it wasii.Have clear search terms, know what you are looking for, but prepare to bedelightfully distracted. This is another way that books can be far superior to theinternet: you have to wait until The End to read the Bibliography, and starttinglingiii all over at the thought of the possibilities it provides.On the internet, all of the links are live, and placed throughout thedocument — click on one and suddenly you are seventeen pages away from youroriginal article, and learning how to make doughnuts from an Ancient Armenianrecipeiv. Thank God for the back button!For those who need to research newspaper articles, one of the bestsources is Trove. If you wish to find newspaper articles from all aroundAustralia, covering decades of time, you can’t go past it. The articles aredownloadable, and printable. A small caveat though, read your articlethoroughly, as scanned documents are often riddled with spelling errors. Trovealso has a feature which allows the user to correct these, and will even give youkudo’s for doing so. You do need an account to get the credit though.The hybrid system that I use combines both physical and non-physicalmethods of accessibility. I prefer physical books and paper to actively work with,but if I stuck with only that, I would need to add a few wings to BuckinghamPalace to accommodate it all. My compromise? I keep the articles that I am usingRIGHT THEN, on paper, whilst the articles that my magpie mind has flagged forthe future are scanned and stored in file folders on my desktop. Some of themrelate to varying historical periods (Sumeria, Egypt et al), others relate tovarying sciences (chemistry and physics mostly), another is reserved for people(Alexander the Great, Cleopatra for example). How you would choose to filethese same topics may be unique to you, but I find that this is what works for me.Never forget that you are your own best resource; every experience youhave ever lived through, every thought you’ve ever had, every time you’ve everasked ‘why?’ Or ‘what if ?’ you’ve fuelled the part of you that is a writer. Use thatin your writing, use your experiences to evoke emotions and questions in yourreader.Now go out and write.11I know I’m getting on, but seriously?whirlpool (n.)1520s, from whirl (v.) pool (n.1). Old English had hwyrfepol and wirfelmere.
11Or is that just me?Possibly just me again.
Puzzle Page.Mixing it up from now on. The vowels will be on one sideof the page, the consonants on the other. The object isto make as many words as you can from the word:EEAEM N LT LThree letters or above, no plurals. Have fun.
writers, we are creative souls, and creative souls need downtime. We need to rest and reflect, not just on our ambitions, but also on who we are, what we wish to accomplish. Or just simply on how the light reflects from the scales of a butterfly’s wings. On a happy note
