Word for the Year 2024

Here at The Drum and Page, the new year begins with a new word to help give the upcoming months purpose and direction.
This year I’ve gone with a phrase: labore et constantia (labour and tenacity).
It’s all I have as a creative as the projects I have in mind will require a tenacious mindset and consistent application of work.

End of Month Wrap – June

Happy New (Financial) Year’s Eve to all my Antipodean folk.

It’s half way through the calendar year so it’s time for the end of the month wrap and a little look forward both for the next six months and into next year. Side note: a couple I know celebrate their birthdays on June 30 and December 31.

At the end of May I knew June was going to be a creative write off with the amount of school marking coming up. Despite that black hole of creative suck that sucks worse than any sucking machine invented could ever suck, there were some good things that happened this month.

Here’s a list

• ART
• created and sold 2 versions a continuous line drawing, Backflip/I’m Falling (image below)
• created and sold 2 continuous line drawings of flowers with bees (images below)
• created and sold Grass Tree Continuous Line Drawing (image below)
• created Flight (pointillism image below – for sale $40)
• created Arum (pointillism image below – for sale $40)
• in a moment of complete silliness, I drew myself as Bert from Mary Poppins in the style of a Power Puff Girl (see below for the silliness)
• WRITING
• wrote two dodgy prose poems: Things to do While Sitting With Doubt and Things to do While Sitting With Fear. They form a triptych with Things to do While Sitting With Grief (which I realised I haven’t posted here. Will rectify that in the coming days)
• I had a story acceptance for ZineWest. The Sound of Water will be released in October.
• Subbed a past story for a reprint option
• attended an In Conversation evening with poet Dr Willo Drummond whose debut collection, Moon Wrasse, I did the illlustrations for.

There was certainly less writing than what I would have liked but I knew that it was going to be very difficult to have the headspace to write so I used small pockets of time to create art.

What will July look like?

During the holiday break I will be working on some short pieces for upcoming deadlines, then looking at future deadlines to see what I will work on. I know the next school term is also a creative graveyard with the amount of marking but I am hoping to carve out time for small, achievable projects.

Falling or Backflip

Lavendar with Bee

Grevillea with Bee

Tree Grass

Flight $40 (A4)

Arum $40 (A4)

Bert from Mary Poppins as a Power Puff Girl

End of Month Wrap: May

End Of Month Wrap for May

At the end of April I posted a summary to Twitter of what creative work I had completed (I had to go searching for it)

• April Summary
• 2 chapters written for co-authored novel (first draft COMPLETED!)
• short story/flash fiction written/polished. Final edits awaiting
• pointillism art piece completed for friend’s 50th birthday
• worked on draft of a new short/flash fiction
• other misc art

This was the first pointillism piece for my friend’s 50th

Sometimes it can be hard to see progress until you look back and take inventory of what you have completed. So I kept a tally of positive creative steps from the past month

What did I get done this month?

• 3 stories subbed (2 flash fiction pieces, 1 short story)
• My short story, A Shoebox of Silkworms, was submitted to the About Kids Short Story Prize and was Highly Commended. It was a very quick turnaround from submission to announcement).
• 2 small art commissions
• 1 large pointillism piece completed/framed (for sale)

Sunflower – Pointillism – Felt Pen on A4 paper (professionally framed. Message for price)

Looking forward to June, I know it will be a creative write-off with marking assessments for at least the 1st half of the month. There may be opportunity for creating small art pieces but I will be holding off on large scale pointillism pieces until the end of the marking phase.
In terms of writing, I am lining up a series of short stories to finish for a few places I’d like to sub to, and then I think I’ll be turning to some longer form work in the 2nd half of the year. I love the brevity of short form but want to push myself into longer form works. There will be lots of note making and researching to be done with the hope of making 2024 a year to pursue the novel I have been thinking about for a while (and put finishing touches on a novella but I need to focus on one month at a time).

Will see how we go.

What have you been up to?

Postmarked Piper’s Reach – Last Chance

Very soon, Postmarked Piper’s Reach will be going out of print with Vine Leaves Press but there’s still a chance to grab a copy.

Jodi Cleghorn and I are enormously grateful to Jessica Bell and Amie McCracken for giving our book a home, and for a cover that I was totally enamoured with from the very first time I saw it.

Read the story of Ella-Louise Wilson and Jude Smith as they unravel their lives through letters.

LINK HERE

Word of the Year 2023

Greetings from the desk of The Drum and Page. At the beginning of each year, I choose a word to help give me focus to the coming year.

In 2021, it was Limitless/Breakthrough.

For a COVID year, there was little breakthrough and a lot of limitations, yet it was a year to keep thinking what it means to be a writer and an artist.

Last year, 2022, the word was Relentless.

For many reasons, 2022 was relentless, particularly on a personal front, yet my focus was on moving in a direction where my writing was developing. This resulted in three publications: The School Magazine for The Diving Tower (November), winning the WestWords Living Stories Prize in July for We Three Kings, and winning the Blacktown Mayoral Creative Writing Prize in December for Cutting Through.

I was also a member of the WestWords Academy which was a fantastic time to network and gain further understanding into the writing and publishing world.

What does this next year hold?
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

I had this verse running through my head over the last few days and while I can plan and prepare, no one knows where the wind comes from or where it is going to so you make sure you adjust the beach towel wrapped around your neck, pretending it is a cape, and stand facing the wind so the cape billows out behind you, and you strike an appropriate superhero pose.

I know I want to maintain, and build on, the momentum I gained from last year. Therefore, my word/s for 2023 is:

To determine what this will look like for me, I have to examine my practices and my focus on where I want to expend my creative energy. Hence, for me, my words mean clearing the decks of older projects by either removing them from my work lists, or leaving them for another time. It also means dropping those things that look shiny and interesting but don’t advance where I want to go. For example, I’d been thinking for some time about a Red Bubble/Etsy store to sell my art, but that’s a whole business side of things that I don’t have time for. My art is personal expression and peace. If someone offers to buy a piece or wants a commission, that’s fantastic. My business focus is on writing and the craft of writing.

This year, a year of pursuing, and a year of pursuit, means finding the ‘thing’ – whether that is a story, art, reading, that fills me up and allows me to develop. I am hoping time spent with the projects that give me a sense of fullness will replenish me. There is always something to write, an idea to let compost, a paragraph to edit, a character to let loose in the lolly aisle at the supermarket with $100 to spend and see what they return with.

Long pieces of work have long gestation periods and long blocks of time for writing and editing. This may mean a less visible year, yet I will still be pursuing my writing goals and aims.

I have a couple of new desk buddies/guardians/motivators courtesy of Christmas to help me along the way.

Success is fleeting and unpredictable. Last year’s wins and publications were succour in a time of distress and stress. Success this year will look very different, and I am willing to change the criteria of ‘success’ to allow me to pursue my writing goals.

Think I need to invest a good pair of running shoes to make it through this year.

2022 Blacktown Mayoral Creative Writing Prize

It’s me? It’s ME!

The theme for this year’s competition was “What now?” and I used the prompt to explore the distance of relationship between a father and his son as they navigate the changes in life as his son prepares to graduate high school and pursue the next phase of life. The setting of my story, Cutting Through, was a local barbershop where the father has to consider his own life through the lens of his son.

I believe excerpts will be published online and I will post them here as well.

I wasn’t able to attend the presentation last night, however, the mother of one of my writing students was present and snapped a photo of the announcement. My student forwarded me the picture last night.

It was a lovely surprise to round out the year. It has been a wonderfully successful creative year for me with my win for the WestWords Living Stories competition in July, publication in The School Magazine, and the 2022 Blacktown Mayoral Creative Writing Prize.

Next year will be a focus on longer form works so there will be less to visibly celebrate, but success will also be measured in the words written and the projects completed.

Short Story Publication: The Diving Tower – The School Magazine

Earlier this year I sold a story to The School Magazine. The New South Wales Department of Education releases 10 issues a year to public school students, catering for all reading levels through different titles aimed at stages.

My story, The Diving Tower, was released in Touchdown. It is appropriate story as we come into the summer season in Australia as it is about a young boy, Zeke, who wants to conquer his fear of the diving tower at his local pool. I will say Zeke is a braver boy than I ever was.

It is beautifully illustrated by Australian artist, David Legge.

You can read a digital copy of the story HERE.

If you are a primary school teacher, there are a range of resources you can access to accompany the story created by The School Magazine. For specific activities to accompany The Diving Tower, click HERE.

A teacher friend of mine sent me a picture of the magazine at his school, and I was very chuffed to see kids still draw all over the cover of magazines.

Speaking About Yourself Is Harder Than You Think

A little bit of self-promotion. I do not like being in front of the camera. Being in front of the classroom is fine. Trying to sound like I know what I am talking about is difficult on a good day. Trying to sound knowledgeable in front of the camera to talk about what I do as a teacher is treacherous terrain.
My school is highlighting the work of their teachers, and I was picked on for the creative writing class I am teaching this year, a new initiative, and the WestWords Living Stories win from earlier this year.
But, yes, this is what I believe in as a creative person for my students.

In the piece I am wearing my “I Should Be Writing” badge, and a badge from one of my favourite bands, We Lost The Sea. It’s my intention to wear band merch whenever I can if doing writing stuff to promote my favourite bands.

My next aim is to become better at public speaking.

You can find the link HERE. Sorry, it goes to LinkedIn.

WestWords Living Stories Things Unsaid – WINNER

Last Monday 18 July, WestWords held the launch for Living Stories Things Unsaid, and announced the major prize winners.

I was able to attend, and came away as the grand prize winner for the 18+ category for my story, We Three Kings.

Westwords have released a FREE digital copy of the book containing all the winners and highly commended pieces from the thirteen Local Government Areas with the judges’ comments.

The link to read my story, and all the other stories and poems, is here: Living Stories Things Unsaid.

I am looking forward to reading all the entries, especially the younger writers who I hope will continue their pursuit of the craft because it will be awesome to see their writing journey into the future.

WestWords Living Stories Win

* GOOD NEWS KLAXON *
That’s my name down there on the bottom of the picture telling me I have won the 18+ category of WestWords Living Stories competition.
Last year I was also the winner for my local government area and backing it up with a win this year is amazing.

The next step is all the winners of each category are judged for the grand prize which will be announced in July. What is extra cool, and perhaps a little daunting, is other winners in my category are also part of the WestWords Academy I am participating in this year (all judging was blind so no one knew we were a part of the Academy or indeed if we had submitted). The chat was a flurry of messages yesterday when the announcements were made. I am hoping to meet them in real life at the book launch. I loved reading the stories in last year’s collection as there were amazing pieces written by people from all ages, and I am looking forward to reading the winners and highly commended stories and poetry this year.

I really loved what I had written, and was completely satisfied that if it didn’t place or anything, it was a piece I truly believed in and gave it everything I could. However, it did win, and it made for a lovely surprise (when you submit a piece for a competition, or any publication, you have all hope and no hope simultaneously) after what has been a brutally exhausting term at school.

The announcements were being released as I was teaching my writers’ class so I was able to share the good news with them when it happened (after I had messaged my wife and told her).

You can see all the winners’ names HERE.