Wednesday 11 March 2015

new website - www.lucybowler.com.au

Hi there!

I'm delighted to announce my new website - a place for all things writing, including my blog (which I've imported from Blogger).

If you're lovely enough to feature me on your blogroll, could I please ask you to update the link as below - a huge thank you!

Please come and visit and let me know how it all goes - I would be delighted to receive some feedback!

http://lucybowler.com.au/

how a smartphone can change your writing life...

Reading my work, podcasts, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and more...
When the call button on my old phone started wobbling like a loose tooth, it was time for some drastic action. I found a (cheap) smartphone and over the past month I've been discovering all the things I had missed in my pre-Android days. I'd worried about enormous phone bills, but I've disabled mobile roaming and just hook into the wifi when I'm at home or near another connection - problem solved!

Here's how the smartphone works for me and improves my writing life at the same time!

Reading my work
I can email myself a copy of my manuscript, download it and read it on the go. Great for when I'm out-and-about. Another bonus is that Scrivener (writing software I bought last year) can export to an .epub file and it's just like reading a published version of an ebook!

Podcasts
I can now download Podcasts directly on to Stitcher Radio and use the 'Listen Later' feature to download them. I must thank the Australian Writers' Centre for this discovery as I needed an app to download 'So you want to be a writer'. Until I bought the new phone, I thought I could only find it on iTunes and used to transfer it to an iPod. Now it's all in one place on my phone.

My writing podcast list has grown since this amazing new discovery and now includes:

* So you want to be a writer - AWC, hosted by Allison Tait and Valerie Khoo

* The Creative Penn - Joanna Penn

* The sell more books show - Jim Kukral and Bryan Cohen

* Writers on writing - Barbara deMarco-Barrett

* The Writing Biz - Laura Williams

Instagram
Even though I've used Instagram for a while, before now I bluetoothed pictures from my computer to my tablet and uploaded them from there. Now I can take photos on my phone and upload them when I'm near a wifi connection.  Win, win!

Twitter
App installed, can access any time I'm near the afore mentioned wifi - easy! Again, something else I'm more likely to do now it's right there on the phone.

Pinterest
Now I can browse something on my phone and pin it from there - I'm using this program a lot more since I've installed the app. It was always an afterthought before now. Particularly good as I'm looking into book cover design...

And more
Emails, text messages, diary, notes and alarm clock all in one place. While I keep a back-up diary, the alarm clock feature is fantastic and I have reminders going off at various times of the day - school pick-up, finish work (I do tend to forget!), whatever. It's also great to set a timer for an uninterrupted writing session - no need to stop and check to see how much time is left, the alarm does it for me.

Do you have a smartphone? Have you discovered the ways it can help further your interests?!

Thursday 5 March 2015

the writer's edition - march 2015

Writers' events are the theme of the moment!
Lunch with Paddy O'Reilly, a Writers Victoria (WV) meet-up and Kirsty Murray's novel writing masterclass are the highlights on my writing calendar. The first two events are being held in conjunction with the Shepparton Festival, a relatively short drive for me (in country terms!) and a chance to do something in my own backyard, so to speak. I'm particularly looking forward to the WV meet-up and unearthing some like-minded literary souls.

The local theme continues in April, with Kirsty Murray's workshop in Albury - again, not too far for me to travel. A weekend immersion into the world of the novel sounds just the thing and I can't wait! Plot design, structure and pacing are just some of the topics to be covered. The workshop also provides the chance for some group feedback on a few pages of each other's writing, which I always find invaluable.

Tuesdays have become the day for me, dedicated to all things writing. My second manuscript has progressed (40,500 words) and I've spent some time getting that first chapter right in order to set the tone for the rest of the work. I have been using Scrivener which I just love and it's made the process so much easier - details in a later post, but let's just say, I highly recommend it for writers.

How are things in your creative life? 

How do you make time for it amongst your other responsibilities? 

Do you manage to fit in a workshop or two during the year?