Book's by Loz Budden

Well am right back into the swing of things now that the website is set up and running. Still having difficulties with putting links up tho. I have spent the last 3 weeks sending out queries to agents and having a fair ratio of hit and miss. This is the part of the process that I actually like. except for the impatience factor. But seriously this is the time when you know that you're really doing something, you're throwing yourself open to scrutiny and thats hard. It's all well and good to get you're stuff down on paper but if you're not prepared to put it out there then you may as well not have written it. I continually read and hear about how writers hate doing queries and proposals but I have to admit i don't understand that. You have just sweated you're guts out for maybe a year writing a book and now you're worried about writing a few words. I think it is the most important part of the process because if you cant describe with passion what you just wrote about than how on earth are you going to convince someone that it is great. You know that what you wrote is great now just tell others. Be simple and to the point and always be professional with your queries. Agents really don't seem to be interested in fluff. Well I still have more queries to send out so until next time, put pen to paper and don't forget to lose yourself.

Hey there. This blogging thing is completly new to me so hang in there with me and we will work it out.

I really wanted to fill you in on a fabulous 3 days I had at the Byron Bay Writers Festival from the 6th -9th of August. It was a very inspiring time to say the least. I headed up on thursday and came back on monday and spent the whole 3 days just captivated by the wonderful writers that were present. They say it is never more inspiring than when your in the company of people you aspire to. Well with people like Tom Keneally, who won the Booker Prize for Schindlers Ark, Cheryl Kernot, Mary Moody, Gretel Kileen, Matt Nable and Brian Cadd to name just a few of many I had more than enough to keep me going.

It was 3 days full of workshops and writers panels where you could just sit and listen to these people talk forever. The variety of subjects for discussion was never ending. I felt like I had sat through a whole symester of Uni after just 8 hours.

The one thing that really resonated with me was that there was no write or wrong way to go about your writing. Everybody has their own way of doing things and in the end they all work. Plan, Don't plan it doesn't matter as long as you simply keep writing. I came home with a head full of ideas and plans and one of them was to get the web site up and running, so i'm right on track. I believe it is well worth while trying to get yourself along to some writing seminars or readings and just listen to these writers that have been there and done it cause they know exactly what were all going through, they themselves have gone through it and come out the other side.

One of my all time favorite sayings is out of the movie 'A League of their Own' when Gina Davies turns to Tom Hanks and says I can't do it, it just got too hard and Tom Hanks looks at her and says 'It's the hard that makes it great, if it wasn't hard we would all be doing it'.

So just remember when your struggling, thats when you know it's worthwhile.