Relieving wrist and arm pain: Exercises for writers .

Status: Getting excited!
Days till ‘Dead, Actually’ is released? 7!! One week today exactly. So is that still 7 or 6? I’m a writer not a mathematician…

I posted this over at my Downtown YA blog spot – but as I’d been promising it here as well – I’m crossing over.
I don’t know about you, but I, and many other authors I know, suffer terribly with hand problems. It seems to go with the industry. These days, as never before really, we have to produce enormous amounts of work in a relatively short time.
And it takes its toll. On our backs, our bodies in general, our arms, our necks, our eyes, hands and fingers.
For me one of the most stressful is the hands and fingers. Actually it’s almost the entire arm thing. I get horrific pain right down my forearms, through my wrists and into my hands.
I’ve tried many things to try and get some relief – and three things have been successful. One of those though, rates just a tad above the other because it’s instantaneous, effective and I don’t have to leave my office.
So, what are my Top Three Relievers for arm/wrist pain?
• Acupuncture
For me it was very effective. Takes some time though as the treatment itself takes more than an hour. I like that it lasts for several months. I’d certainly recommend it if you get to a stage where nothing else works.

• Chiropractic
I love chiropractic care and I love Lisa McKee, my chiropractor. Chiro has kept me walking for years when traditional medicine said I should have been in a wheelchair after a bad car accident years ago. I owe it and my practitioners a heap.

• Exercise
This is the one I want to focus on today. These actually came from my chiro Lisa and I’ve been extolling the virtues – hers and the exercises – for years.

What to do:
Part 1
1. Extend right arm straight out in front.
2. Hand must form an upward right angle. (I.e, as in ‘speak to the hand’. Got it?)
3. Place your left hand over the fingers of the right.
4. Push these fingers back towards your shoulder.
5. Hold for a count of ten.
6. Repeat 5 times.
7. Extend left arm straight out in front
8. Copy the exact directions above (3,4,5,6) this time using your right hand to glasp the left.
9. Repeat this exercise several times throughout the day – especially when in pain.

Part 2
1. Extend right arm straight out in front.
2. Lower fingers toward floor – so that your hand is at right angles again to your body
3. Using the left hand, glasp those right-hand fingers and push them back towards your body.
4. Hold for a count of ten.
5. Repeat 5 times.
6. Extend left arm straight out in front
7. Copy the exact directions above (2,3,4,5) this time using your right hand to glasp the left.
8. Repeat this exercise several times throughout the day – especially when in pain.

If you’re doing this correctly you’ll feel those contracted muscles extend – and it will hurt a bit. Maybe even a lot. You’ll feel the pull, the resistance. For me, part two hurts more. I can feel that pull along the top part of my forearm. Agony and then ecstasy…

I’m not going to tell you, however, that I know all the medical reasons this works – but I know it does extend certain muscles that are continually placed in a contracted position due to the nature of our work. I imagine it aids circulation as well.

What I DO know is that it works. Not just for me, but for literally dozens – maybe hundreds – of other authors I’ve shared this with.

Good luck, I hope it works! Let me know and if you have any other exercises that would aid writers – please let me know!

Interesting Evening with Author Nikki Gemmell – and the story behind THAT book!

Status> Crazy busy. Countdown till Dead, Actually is released? 10 days! That’s 10 days!!!!!

Nikki Gemmel & myself.

But onto my main story… Gosh, you know this happened a couple of weeks back – almost three! The evening before Australia day to be exact. How time gets away…

The event was an ‘in conversation with’ author Nikki Gemmell, most famous for her somewhat controversial novel ‘The Bride Stripped Bare’ – and hosted by the fabulous people at the Hunter Writers Centre. Her residency at the centre was also part of the promotion of her latests work, ‘With My Body’.

Held at the home of Hunter Writers – (a very early, now unused Police Station locally known as ‘The Lockup’) the night in itself was a feast for the senses. Listening to Nikki’s fascinating journey, hearing the soft summer rain on the covering over what was once an enclosed exercise ‘yard’ for prisoners. Smelling – and indeed feeling – that rain as it floated down on a misty haze through the opening where the roof doesn’t meet the walls; and smelling, tasting and sensing the anguish, hatred and fear that the building seems to have have absorbed over it long history as an incarceration centre.

The above photo is of the Padded Cell, taken through the doorway, as entry isn’t allowed.

Nikki herself was an interesting character, and while she is impressively educated, has had a very colourful career outside of writing and has written several other successful novels, conversation it seems keeps coming back to that one novel: The Bride Stripped Bare’.

And call me cynical, but looking at how that whole episode panned out, I keep thinking that it was a fabulous marketing ploy. Well, whether it was intended or not – it worked! It caused such a buzz and publishers were falling over each other to get the rights.

If you don’t know the background – or were hiding under a log back in 2003, or barely out of nappies – here’s the gist.

Like many authors, Nikki was suffering with her own issues. Suddenly finding her creative-self lost in a sea of being a wife and new mother, she was stifled – couldn’t write freely – censoring herself with every word. During one of her angst- filled moments she remembered words she’d read earlier about a 17th century author – words I can’t quote directly but were along the lines of: ‘It’s okay to be anonymous’.

Taking this advice literally offered Nikki the creative freedom she’d craved. The censoring stopped because she took herself and her self-imposed fear and restrictions out of the process – and just let the words flow. And flow they did. They poured.

In a brave move that I suspect may have been supported by a canny knowledge of clever marketing, her agent took the book to market. Author name? “Anonymous”.

The story is raw, and it produced what title promised. Such brutal honesty. Such raw, and often shocking, female emotion. There was no filtering. Thus, speculation at the International Book Fair was rife. Everybody had an opinion as to the the ‘real’ author, and probably nobody at first envisaged an Australian expat living in London with two babies at her feet. Consensus was it was somebody famous and the list of names included movie stars, rocks stars and politicians but with the most likely candidate being author Salmon Ruskie’s second – or was it third? – wife.

It’s a great ‘journey’ story, and though the mystery surrounding this book certainly helped to send it soaring to the moon, the fact remains that it first had to be a compelling book.

Of course, while I guess Nikki can look back and smile now, her inevitable ‘outing’ was painful and caused her much stress. Even after publication, speculation was rife, as were sales – and it was probably only a matter of time until the truth was somehow leaked to the press who then camped outside her house making life hell for her and her husband and babies.

I’m sorry that happened – I truly am. No one deserves to be treated with such carelessness by the press. And like most us – when stripped bare, Nikki is simply a wife and mother, a woman working at a difficult job – trying to provide a safe and wholesome life for her children.

But still – it can’t be denied that this episode goes down as one of the most brilliant strokes of marketing in recent history. As said – intentional or not…

Am I being callous in thinking that? How far would you go to ensure a moon-shooting success? It doesn’t have to be a book? In anything in yor life…

Happy Australia Day for yesterday…

Happy Australia Day

 

I hope you did something fun and patriotic – like have a good old Aussie barbie. With lamb?

Whether you did or not – this is  GREAT way to celebrate.

Adam Hills Performs Advance Australia Fair
(Australian National Anthem) TO Jimmy Barns Working Class Man At The Comedy Festivals

http://youtu.be/xiEycVMKoJo

Raise your voices and SING!!

BTW: Days till Dead Actually is released: 59!!

 

Happy 2012!

Hi everyone! Happy 2012! I know, I know – it’s already the end of January! The year is almost 1/12th over!

Yes, yes – I hear you but while I’ve been away, I’ve actually been pretty busy, so I hope you forgive me.

You know, I thought it might be fitting to intro you some of  my fabbo crit group the Valley Girls – or VGs for short. Some of us have been together for close to 20 years – so it’s a special group. From left: Heather Cleary, moi, Michelle Douglas, Mary Brehe, Leanne Mcmahon and Annie West. (Missing are Judy Griffiths, Tanya McGovern and Melissa James.) This was taken at our Christmas celeb at our fave dinner venue – the fabulous Lake Macquarie Yacht Club.   I owe these galz a lot – and I hope they know how much I love them.

So: this year is going to be a huge one for me. My biggest news is that we’re expecting a new family member around July 19th. No, not mine but the next best thing – and we’re all very, very excited!

But of course, the year was already huge as I’m also expecting the birth of next major book baby, Dead, Actually - (Allen & Unwin) and we’re counting down the days till that happens! Yep March 1st which is exactly only 36 days away. Can you believe it? Just minutes ago it seemed like forever and now I’m rushing around trying to organise everything and panicking that I’m running out of time. 

To top of all the joy around here, Kerri <g> has also had a great start to the year. Yep, my alter ego has blasted into 2012 with not only a new January book release from Pearson (with cool prizes so tootle on over!),  but a sale of 6 books to Macmillan. Of course that has meant I’ve had absolutely no break yet all summer – but it was worth it.

As Kaz, I’ve also joined a rockin’ group of authors down at Downunder YA, and my blog days are the 13th and the 27th of each month. So, I’d be excited if you dropped by on one of those days.

I’ve also been planning my year which is going to be really busy. As it was just announced yesterday, I’ll share that one of those events is Writefest at Bundaberg in May – and I’ll be talking about that in the next couple of blogs as well.

How will I cope this year? I’ve always been big on goals ( see my DowntownYA) post and this year is no different. Or maybe it is – in that I’m so determined to ensure that I make the most of every moment of 2012. I don’t want to get to the end and wonder what happened or where it went.

So dada… For some it’s the Year of the Dragon – but for me it’s the YEAR OF ORGANISATION. (No raucus laughing! Please! )

And you can help keep me honest.  Sound like a challenge? Good – I love challenges…

As the year progresses, I’ll be sharing  my specific goals and dreams – and we can check on how I’m doing. Until then – what are your plans for 2012? A cruisey one? A fired one? Do you have goals? Believe in them? Do they work for you or against you?

I’d love to hear…

Shoes & Chocolate! Great comp!

 Who loves chocolate? Who loves shoes? My fabulous publishers are running a great competition to begin promoting my March release – Dead, Actually.  This is pure fun! All you have to do is vote for your fave chocolate shoe – yep – chocolate shoe, to go in the running!

All deets are on their FB  page:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150471531521159.426889.99174606158&type=3

Or visit Allen & Unwin’s FB page!

How did this happen?

In October, I visited my publishers for a marketing meeting for my upcoming novel, “Dead, Actually“. My agent flew up from Melbourne and it was a fabulous day – complete with a yummy seafood lunch. Those galz know how to get straight to this author’s heart…

Anyway, I took pressies! As there is a stiletto motif that runs through the book, I prepared gorgeous bags filled with chocolate melts, scrummy, edible decorations and stiletto moulds. I had added two chocolate stilettos for each bag, that I’d created the night before.  

There was such excitement, that right there a comp was born.  The staff and their families created shoes and we all get to vote! How easy, and how much fun?

There are books (including a copy of Dead, Actually as soon as it becomes available) to be won,  and I’ll be adding a cute chocolate mould pack  complete with chocky and decorations.

Anyway, I’d love, love you to support me on this. Please check out the FB page and vote for your fave shoe! I have my own personal fave. So, what do you think? Should the staff at A&U give up their day jobs and become chocolate shoe makers? LOL!

 

 

 

 

November Giveaway: What’s Your Fave Christmas Recipe?

I warned you it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! And if I was a truly horrible person I’d also warn you how many shopping days there are left till Christmas. Yes, I suppose there is a possibility that, to do that, might be construed as  a Public Service Announcement – but honestly? I’m not that noble.

Why? I sooo don’t need that stress…

But – stress aside, it IS my fave time of the year. I love the music, the spirituality, the smells, the shops, the traditions – and yes the food. Each year we have traditional fare that we always bake or make.

We usually have a tree trimming party – and scattered in with everything else that may change from year to year – there are always my mini sausage rolls, prawns wrapped in bacon, onion tarts and arrancini.    After there’d be the yummy moist fruitcake that my mother and grandmother have also been making for probably a hundred years.  (Don’t try to do the math – I’m very bad at it. Just take my word and we’ll all be happy. Okay?) And of course yummy sweets and fruit and nuts.  

On Christmas Day, we usually have seafood followed by a traditional roast pork, turkey and chicken hot lunch with masses of roast vegies. Afterward we always have my mum’s mini Christmas puds with custard and cream, pavlova and  great, ice-cream and lolly Christmas pudd for those who don’t like traditional pudding.

My November giveaway is all about that time of getting ready for Christmas – creating edible gifts, and creating treats for your family and friends. There is a box of 30 Illustrated Christmas Recipe Cards  filled wth fun ideas – and a very cute 6-cavity, silicone cake-mould shaped like Chrstmas trees on offer! I’d also use these for chocolate treats – or coconut ice or  fudge as well. What would you use them for?

It’s easy to win – actually super, super easy this month as we only have two weeks left of the month!!! All you have to do to go in the draw is to leave a comment on any blog this month. To make it easy and fun this particular blog – I’d love to know about any tradition/s you have  – and I’d especially love to know which Christmas food is your fave? What food or tradition is your absolute fave? 

Everyone is welcome to join in the fun. If you have young people in your life or house who’d like to offer their fave things, I’d love to hear from the as well.

October Winner!

Status: Working on new book. Yay!

Days till release of Dead, Actually: 119 (Allen & Unwin, March 1st 2012)

Wow – my first competition! And it was such fun!

So without ado – or with ado – whatever you prefer, it is my pleasure to to announce that :-

                                                   ELENI KONSTANTINE

                                                    is the October winner!

Is it steak knives? Is it choccies? Is it  world trip? NO!

It’s girlie stuff!   To keep or to share – whatever works best for you.

Enjoy, Eleni and if you contact me with your addy, I can post it out to you! 

Stay tuned for the November prize announcement. Hint: “It’s beginning to look a bit like Christmas… “ Tra la la. (And no, it’s not  a CD of me singing Christmas Carols – so you can all heave a big sigh of relief.)

 

 

 

 

RWA Photos 2011 – Cocktail Party.

I’m only about two and half months late… And no, this Mafia Mud wasn’t served at the RWA Cocktail Party, but I *did* enjoy it at a fabulous retro Italian Restaurant in Lygon Street the night before the conference began in earnest.  And it  was wonderful. And potent!

 

The photo below looks like I’ve been swimming in cocktails all afternoon – but it had been a big day.  A meeting with my agent (Jacinta di Mase) in the morning, an amazing lunch at a local cafe (with a very cute waiter who told us AFTER we’d paid the bill that anyone staying at the Hilton gets a discount(!)), and then late afternoon shopping through the magical stores of Melbourne and darting through alleyways that housed hole-in-the-wall cafes that exuded that most mouthwatering aromas and were reminiscent of exotic Morocco. There was the most amazing wall-art to be wowed by and raindrops that had their target pinned directly on me. And so by the time we’d battled the bulging trams and  traversed Lygon street twice to find the perfect restaurant – I was beat!

 

After that long excuse for looking like a drowned rat – let me explain my post this week. It’s simply a pointer to the new photo page on this blog – and which features some photos of the cocktail party.

 

I almost forgot I had the camera, and

Ree Mandas and I enjoying that scrumptious cocktail!

so my shots were taken virtually as I was walking through the crowd as the night closed.  There were so many, many fabulous costumes, and I’m annoyed I didn’t get to immortalise those. But, those I did take, are fun!

 

So, take a peek and I hope you enjoy and remember…

 

In a week or so, I’ll post the rest of the photos, so look out for those as well.  

 

Till then don’t forget this is probably the last October post – and I (or someone!) will be drawing the winner’s name on Tuesday! 

 

As always, thank you for dropping by!

Dead, Actually: Houston – we have a Cover!

Exciting times here at Kaz Central this week.  I can finally post my fabulous cover!

Drum roll please!

 To be found in all good – and bad – bookstores March 2012!  Thank you Allen & Unwin!

And don’t forget my October giveaways! Everyone who comments goes into the draw! Celebration time!

7 Reasons for not Blogging.

I got a bit razzed about not offering a serious list of reasons not to blog, so here it is…

1. No content
2. No time
3. Disorganisation
4. It’s not ‘you’
5. You can’t see the value
6. You’d rather Tweet or FB
7. It takes over your life

NO CONTENT:
This seems to be the outright favourite in a tight line-up. Most bloggers seem to be eager, but that constant expectation to come up with interesting can be paralysing. I admit it’s the single thing – above lack of time – that stops me from being on my own *blogs more often. ( *I run two, one for each entity – so that’s twice the stress.) So what can we do?

I tackled this problem myself just last week, and I made a schedule of blogs for the next three months. It was quite an amazing experience. And fun! So what did I do that was different?

 First I actually put in the ‘time’. This might seem obvious, but it made a difference to me. Usually, I’m doing a trillion things and while fluttering through them all, I’m stressing about what I should ‘also’ write on my blogs. The result is that I write none. So, last week, I set side a whole day. And that day was purely for blog focus.

 Then I looked at my life and who I blog for; my audience. I have a few exciting things coming up in my writer life, so I allocated a separate blog for each. Yes, it’s called stretching – but hey – my life isn’t ‘that’ exiting!

 Everyone likes to see photos of themselves on the internet. (Except if you’re a photo-phobe like me!). I’ve been to a few professional events recently and ‘this’ time I put the old camera to work. So, I know I can get a couple of blog entries out of that.

 I asked myself what there is about my physical environment that might interest others. That was an easy one: I live in a truly beautiful part of the world – minutes from both beach and lake. If I get low on content, I can share some of my physical world.

 I made a list of professional topics that I could tackle – and I even did some preliminary research to add to those notes to make life easier when I write them.

 I made a list of authors I’d like to interview. And will contact them in due time.

 Golden rule: Try to keep it relevant and interesting. As your readership grows, don’t forget those fans will want to pick up little tid-bits about ‘who’ you are – and your life. Debbie Macomber is the absolute queen of the teeny tid-bit.

NO TIME
This is a tricky one and one only you can tackle. If you really and truly have no time, then it’s probably better if you simply spend the limited time you DO have on your books. Don’t beat yourself up over this. Because in the end, the blog will never replace a book in you reader’s hands. Nothing beats having brilliant product and it should always come first.

DISORGANISATION
Sometimes we DO have time but we’re so disorganised that we can’t seem to make that time work for us. I’m guilty of this more often that I care to admit. Don’t confuse this with laziness. It’s a syndrome I call the Crazy Head Syndrome or CHS –basically because that’s how my head feels when there’s so much to do and I don’t know what to tackle first.

With regard to the general issue of dealing with CHS there is only one word that makes any sense: PRIORTISE.

 Make daily ‘to-do’ lists.

 Start with the priorities – those most important. For all of us writers, that should be to get your daily words done.

 Don’t stick your head in the oven if you don’t get everything on the list accomplished.

 Start the next day’s list (after the daily words which should appear on EVERY day’s list) with the things you didn’t quite get done the day before.

 Be realistic. You’re human. Stuff will happen.

 Don’t make superhuman lists because that’s self-defeating. For you’re sanity it’s better to underestimate what you can achieve, and then add something extra. Trust me, you’re going to feel amazing!

 Write your blogs ahead – when you find yourself with a few spare minutes – and use the automatic schedule facility. It can relieve heaps of stress especially if you’re facing a huge, or extra busy, week to know that those blogs will appear like clockwork.

IT’S NOT ‘YOU’
So don’t do it. Seriously, if maintaining a blog stresses you, then don’t do it. It’s not the end of the world, and the cost will never be worth the effort if the stress is high enough. Life is hard enough, don’t add unnecessary crazy-head stuff to the mix.

The thing is: Not everyone feels comfortable sharing so much of themselves – and no one should try to convince you otherwise. I love blogging – even though I’ve been very bad at it, so I have no excuse. Shocking isn’t it…

YOU CAN’T SEE THE VALUE
You’re putting in the work but not seeing any results? You’re not getting hits? Not getting comments?

Research might help – or take the advice above. Quantifying the value of blogging is tricky. Some have had enormous successes, some struggle on day in and day out without seeing the results they’re desperate – and deserve – to achieve.

I’m not an expert but this is what I’ve learned:

 Keep track of those of your blogs that attract the biggest hits. For some it’s interviews; or giveaways – others it’s professional development.

 Watch your stats. How can you turn those silent hits into comments?

 ‘To have friend, first you must be a friend.’ This applies to blogging as much as it does to the outside world. If you want to get people to comment or mention your blog, then you have to comment on other people’s blogs. It’s not foolproof and doesn’t come with guarantees, but it will eventually work. So, in your daily ‘to-do’ list, factor in some blog cruising time.

 Research other blogs to see the sorts of things/topics that attract the big hits.

YOU’D RATHER TWEET or FB?
So, again, do it. There are no rules. But don’t forget you can link your blogs back to FB & Twitter – so it halves – or thirds the job. Remember though that readers get a bit peeved if every Tweet or FB asks them to jump onto your blog, or is self promoting.

Whatever social media you choose, make sure it’s entertaining or informative; that you’re ‘giving’. The most important thing is to simply choose the one that works the best for you.

IT TAKES OVER YOUR LIFE
This was a biggy for me. On days I blogged, I seemed to achieve nothing else. On this issue I have three pieces of advice that I found most helpful.

Set a schedule: The thing that helped me most was to downgrade my own expectations. I wanted to blog every weekday. But I have two separate blogs. That meant coming up with content for about 520 blog entries a year. No wonder my head was imploding…

Once I downgraded that to twice a week for each, it was like load was lifted.

Be consistent: This one of the biggest problems facing eratic bloggers – there’s no consistency. It’s very hard to keep followers or readers coming back if they see the same sad, tired, old blog they saw two months ago – still sitting in pride of place as your latest offering. Would you keep going back?

Keep it short: Though I failed miserably here… (And it’s something I still struggle with.) But despite that, this was the second thing that helped me get my head around more regular blogging. Every blog doesn’t have to be a novel. In fact, stats prove that shorter blogs might work better because they support the general time-poor affliction that most of our readers suffer from. If it’s short & succinct – ergo, offers something interesting but not a massive time investment to read, then you’re more likely to have people stop by and stay. (Okay – so this blog is a total fail!!!)

So that’s my list and it didn’t involve dogs – sick or not… And it’s long… But once I got into it, I realised just how serious this topic is – and how many people stress over it every day.

Now, hit me with what I left out. I’m sure there are things I’ve overlooked? Important things? How do you cope? And what do you enjoy most about blogs? Your fave blogs? Or simply the things you like to see most in a blog…

Don’t forget, every comment goes into the draw for the pressies. This is such fun!