Pic of the Week . . . Tomasz Chistowski

Before we move on to Pic of the Week I'd like to thank all those who wished me luck for giving a talk about the joys of writing to my niece's class on Wednesday. It went really well. Like most of you said, the kids were interested and were completely engrossed in what I had to say.

To begin with I gave a little talk about my writing career to date; I took in the very first novel I ever wrote and was rewarded with oohs and aahs, then I compared it to one of my last novels (180,000 words and yet to be edited) and the oohs and aahs were replaced with gasps of astonishment and awe. After that my mind done a blank on me. All the points I had arranged to discuss disappeared and so we moved on to question time. I was there for an hour answering some superb questions about writing, and I could have stayed for the rest of the afternoon had the teacher not had other plans for her class.

It went really well - and my niece had a proud grin from ear to ear the entire time, bless her - and rumour has it I may get asked to come back sometime in the new year to speak with their other class of 10 year olds. I said that as long as they have questions it shouldn't be problem...lol. And so it begins...

Public speaking can be terrifying for those who don't often do it, but the more you speak, the easier it gets (I learnt that from my days of theatre work). Having a low self-esteem, being self conscious about your appearence or the way you sound, such as Dark Conteur and Michael Offutt brought up, can hinder most people. I suffer with both these. I admit to be being on the cuddly side (years of sitting at a computer desk instead of working those muscles) and my voice sounds far younger and immature than I actually am. I also talk too fast, a trait that has carried through most of my family, and this often leads to me stumbling over words when nervous. These elements make public speaking very difficult, but if you remain calm, relaxed and take deep breaths, chances are you'll do just fine.

I still get nervous though... ;)

Anyway, Pic of the Week. I had a pleasent shock this morning when I woke. I looked out the window and everything was white. We had our first dose of snow this season, and that cold, fluffy white stuff has inspired this week's choice.

Introducing Tomasz Chistowski from Poland, a chance find and an artsit I'm sure we will be returning to in the future.

Enjoy and have a fab weekend...

Public Speaking . . .

When you get published (yes, that's WHEN. You have to keep pessimistic in this game) and if you're lucky enough to have gone the traditional route with an agent and publisher, it will fall on you at some point in your career to do some public speaking. This can include book signings, lectures, conferences, etc, and all goes towards promotion for your book. Most publishers these days expect it from you. When it comes to marketing, you have to pull your weight, too.

Well, even though I've cheated and only published one book on Amazon Kindle (go buy ;D ) my public speaking days are starting tomorrow. I got asked yesterday if I could attend my 10 year old niece's school and give a talk to her class about writing and about how, even if someone says that their story is rubbish, they shouldn't give up. I mean, where would we be now if we all quit after our first writing failures?

At first I was worried that my niece had made me out to be an international best seller to her teacher (one can dream, lol) but when my sister intervened and explained who I was, she was still more than happy to have me. Turns out I'm a perfect candidate to talk about not giving up - after writing 16 novels and only having one published...lol.

Anyway, I shall let you know how I get on later (for some unknown reason, I feel more nervous talking to this bunch on 10 year olds than I did talking to adults at our book launch. Is that normal??).