On Friday I received this exciting email from Hawkeye Publishing and now want to share their encouraging information. Read and get writing!
Hawkeye Publishing is thrilled to announce they are opening for submissions at the end of June 2024. Please read their guidelines below to ensure your submission includes everything required. They can’t wait to hear from you!
Also, if you have read and enjoyed a Hawkeye book recently, please consider leaving a 5-star review on Goodreads. You can find many of my reviews there too. It’s hugely helpful to their authors as it helps them to connect with new readers.
Hawkeye Publishing is opening for submissions.
Attention writers! Please read the submission guidelinesbelow—
Hawkeye Publishing invites you to share your literary creations with them. They are seeking fresh voices and captivating stories. From gripping thrillers to heartwarming romances, thought-provoking non-fiction to enchanting children’s tales. They accept submissions across various genres and styles.
Hawkeye Publishing accepts—
Creative non-fiction (junior reader and adult); Faction (fiction based on a true event); Serialised YA or junior reader fiction; Fiction: romance, mystery, crime or popular; Self-help; Market-sought Memoir; Picture books (they accept author/illustrator submissions).
Whether you’re a seasoned or aspiring author, Hawkeye welcomes your submission. Take a good look at the guidelines below and send your pitch.
In your pitch email, please include (in 200 words) your—
Title; Genre; Word count; If the manuscript has been professionally edited and by whom; Any award credits on the manuscript; Any award credits the author has received for prior work; Author’s marketing reach; Author bio; Elevator pitch—please also include a 300 word synopsis. Hawkeye Publishing asks that your pitch email does not exceed 500 words and that you do not attach any part of the manuscript.
Submissions OPEN at 9:00am AEST Monday 24th June 2024 and CLOSE 5:00pm AEST Sunday 30th June 2024. Note: Outside this time-frame Hawkeye will not be accepting submissions. Send email to:editor@hawkeyepublishing.com.au
Hawkeye Publishing will acknowledge receipt of your pitch, and then request the first three chapters of your manuscript if you are successful in the initial stage of review. If successful in the second stage, they will then request your full manuscript.
There you have it, the ins-and-outs of taking your writing seriously and getting yourself noticed.
You don’t have to be a budding author or full-time writer, all you need is an interest (or perhaps passion) for the written word and those amazing people who write them. You could be a reader, a part-time reader, a bookworm, a scribbler looking for literary inspiration, a serious new writer, or going with a friend who has a crush on the latest bestseller. There are special events galore and authors from far and wide. Make sure you book early!
“From blockbuster bestsellers to literary luminaries and everything in between, BWF 2024 is an unmissable adventure from beginning to end.”
Brisbane Writers Festival 30 May – 2 June 2024 South Bank https://bwf.org.au/
The main reason I enjoy Brisbane Writers Festival is to hear a good yarn up close from my favourite scribes. One year (I probably wrote a blog post about it) I listened to rugged Aussie legend Bryan Brown, screen actor turned writer. Another time UK author Jasper Fforde on a panel, then independently chatted over a group lunch on the terrace, before attending his final address at the closing ceremony—brilliant!
The following info is just a tiny taste of what’s on offer this year. Click on the link and have a look at the BWF website. For a real blast, read the 54-page online program here. Make a list!
Of course, there are books on sale and you can buy as many books and queue for as many celeb authographs (my new best word) as you have desire and stamina. Believe me, I’ve had some great conversations in those queues, and 😊 selfies, with a good book to read at the end of the day.
The Ten Penners have created an anthology of magical creatures and mysterious moments. Young humans took me on their humorous and enlightening adventures involving broomstick riding, crystal balls, a backyard concert, a magic mirror, intrepid Pixie P.I. Dandelia Oakleaf, frogs, friendships and more—read on!
The Ten Penners latest anthology Backyard Beasts and Curious Capers contains imaginative reading for that age group of children who love a good giggle at preposterous things. Or are they preposterous?
✨BOOK LAUNCH✨
Book launch at BOOKS ETC, Paradise Centre, Surfers Paradise Saturday 21st October 2023 – 11.00am to 2.00pm “Come and have your book signed by a Witch called Floriece, a Pixie, and Jeremy the Spaceman.”
BLOG TOUR & BOGGLE COLOUR-IN COMPETITION DETAILS BELOW
Perhaps making a rocket is not such a strange idea?
‘Jeremy Albatross’ by Marion Martineer highlights the delight and disaster of making a backyard 🚀 rocket. This story is both funny and a health and safety warning during an action-packed BBQ for Dad’s birthday.
‘The Trees are Alive!’ by Jill Smith (of Poo Boom Cat fame) is a tale about Maggie and Caleb who get ‘a cubby house and a living garden’ during the school holidays when they rejuvenate an old tree 🌳 and receive benefits in return. Part awareness, part ecological, a story of nurturing and working with nature.
‘Wizardo’s Spell’ by Jennifer Scicluna involves Simon digging in the backyard with his father. Or not digging in the backyard with his father “Who wants to plant boring 🌸 begonias?” Simon relents and with a whack of his spade he falls through the earth into Muderoon where he meets irascible Agrim Kateus.
Only a quick glimpse at three Ten Penner author tales but you can discover a brave cat, a sensitive tree, a blue Quoggle and a fright night sleepover. In fact, twenty inventive short stories for young readers. Here’s the list:
Ten Penners, twenty stories! Always imaginative and highly readable, their newest anthology Backyard Beasts and Curious Capers contains fantasy and fun with cool character illustrations, kooky critters and silly stuff which appealed to me. Apologies if I’ve left out your favourite. There’s much more including a wakeboarding octopus and an old fairytale reimagined. Ideal for 8-12 year old readers and group reading. Story length would also suit reading before bedtime, or reading in your favourite tree. Just don’t laugh too hard!
Saturday 21st October—BOOKS ETC. Paradise Centre Surfers Paradise 11 am to 2 pm. Saturday 28th October—Big B Books 10 am to 12 noon outside the shop. Saturday 4th November—The Ten Penners monthly meeting (near Melbourne Cup) Saturday 18th November—Gold Coast Writers book launch/promotion 15 mins confirmed. Saturday 2nd December—Upper Coomera Library 1 hour 10 am to 11 am (then their Christmas Party lunch at the café) Saturday 9th December-—Bookness, Mudgeeraba (to be confirmed) Draw the Quoggle colour-in competition winner! NOTE: The PrizeActivity Packwill include more of their characters to colour-in. A badge. A Word Search. A copy of Backyard Beasts & Curious Capers, signed by the authors, and more. Please send your entry via email tothetenpenners@gmail.com Or hand them to The Ten Penners at their presentation. CONTACT: The Ten Penners look forward to your feedback on their new book so please visit their WIX site, become a member and make a comment: https://thetenpenners.wixsite.com/the-ten-penners/blog
So excited about this literary feast! So much to choose from and such great events.
READERS WRITERS LITERATURE LOVERS UNITE—Brisbane Writers Festival advise “In May 2023, Brisbane Writers Festival is spinning a rollicking tale of festive entertainment across five days, four nights and more than 100 literary events.”
“The plot? Full of twists and turns. The characters? A diverse cast of writers, readers and thinkers coming together to enjoy a lively line-up of panel discussions, poetry salons, raconteurs, book talks, special events and much more.”
“From blockbuster bestsellers to literary luminaries and everything in between, BWF 2023 is an unmissable adventure from beginning to end.”
My favourite actor, director, crime author was on a panel discussion and also talked about his recent novel ‘Sweet Jimmy’ so naturally I booked him first. See photo below—
GBW 2023
Queensland BWF guest Bryan Brown with panel discussion luminaries 2023
The Scarlet Stiletto Awards – the 29th – are now open so it’s time to start polishing your short story or at least fire up the computer/sharpen that pencil.
A record $12,365 in prizes is on offer and this year’s Writers Victoria Award for the story with the ‘Most Satisfying Retribution’ now offers a choice of an online course worth $215 – start writing!
To download an entry form and list of FAQs, go here.
They are looking for inspiring, vivid and bold short stories by Queensland writers aged 18-25. Whether you’re just starting out or already making your mark as a writer, your creative work could win $2,000 and be published in the Griffith Review.
Have the chance to see your story published and win cash.
Enter your best work by Monday 15 August 2022, 5 pm.
The Young Writers Award is free to enter! To apply, submit a short story of up to 2,500 words.
First prize is $2000 and up to three runners-up will receive $500.
* * * * * * * * *
TIP: Always read the submission guidelines.
NOTE: I am no longer affiliated with either organisation although years ago I entered their competitions. I didn’t hear back but really enjoyed the experience and I encourage all writers to stretch their emotions and imaginations and start writing – now!
THREE THINGS started back in June 2018, an idea from Paula Bardell-Hedley of Book Jotter under the headings READING LOOKING THINKING and it seems I am the only participant left standing.
Thus I have decided that I will write an even dozen—non metric 12—and call it quits. Not because I don’t like the idea, it’s just that now I tend to write posts without the need for an overflow outlet. I try to keep my patter short (cough) and practice slick (cough, cough) editing which mostly works. GBW.
READING
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK: THREE CENTURIES OF WOMEN TRAVELLERS
Author: Dea Birkett with foreword by Jan Morris Published: 2004 Publisher: Hardie Grant Books Australia Pages: 144 Includes: 120 Illustrations, Bibliography, Index ISBN: 1740662180
This book astounds in more ways than one. An enduring record of women in past centuries who did not stay home cooking and cleaning. From exotic, lesser known locations and fascinating old photos, to women around the world who had the courage to explore and travel alone. As Jan Morris said in the Forward “What they all had in common was their gender and their guts”. It offers the young millennials something to think about—survival without the internet.
“Writing was one of the few careers that had long provided women with professional status, more so perhaps than other forms of artistic expression”.
Off The Beaten Track: Three Centuries of Women Travellers
My particular favourite is on pages 94-95. It starts with a quote “The pictures of the pen shall outlast those of the pencil, and even worlds themselves” Ephra Behn, prologue to “The Luckey Chance” (1687).
Below, left, is a vintage bromide print (1902) taken by an unknown photographer which shows traveller Ina Sheldon-Williams dressed in white frills, painting two tribesmen with a horse and foal, in rather genteel surroundings. Unlike fish collector Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) who suffered overturning canoes, leeches and crocodiles in West Africa, and her thick skirts saved her when she fell into a pit of pointed spikes.
The photo on the right follows the biography of Ethel Mannin (1900-1984) an English woman who lived the stuff of literary dreams. Ethel was 23 years-old, had abandoned an early marriage and with one suitcase, a portable typewriter, a child of three and six words of French she went to the south of France in search of the violet fields, olive groves, vineyards and orange trees. Later, her writing enabled her to purchase a home in fashionable Wimbledon.
Ethel’s prodigious writing and her travelling were intertwined and she wrote fiction and non-fiction providing the reason for her travels. Ethel described herself as “An emancipated, rebellious, and Angry Young Woman”. I just love her 1930 B&W National Gallery portrait—a strong look, perhaps later copied by young Wednesday in “The Addams Family”. GBW.
Unlike cultivated New Farm Park, I have been looking out my window with a certain amount of glumness and a large dose of embarrassment, at the backyard garden (read overgrown jungle) which has proliferated after recent steady rain. Autumnal April, an odd time for such rainfall. It fell in south-east Queensland but not enough in the water supply dam catchment areas.
Even in the 21st century we are dependent on water falling from the sky.
There was a campaign for recycled water during our big Millennium Drought but it never caught on.
I believe Las Vegas, Nevada, has used recycled (reclaimed) water for many years. It’s a mental thing, isn’t it? People are dubious of water others have already drunk and worse…
Getting back to riotous grass, the lawnmower men and gardeners are booked solid so unless I can find an old man with a hay scythe, I will avoid looking out the windows for another week or two. GBW.
THINKING
Fasten seatbelts, get ready for my stream-of-consciousness…
I have been thinking about the legacies we leave behind. Good, bad or unintentional. Of course, there are hundreds of ways a person leaves a legacy; flamboyantly, quietly, cruelly, some not necessarily acknowledged, but they will be there just the same. From the tangible to the ephemeral, the loved to the hated, a universal legacy or a small one-on-one, we leave our mark. Be aware of this legacy, this part of you which I believe you will indelibly leave behind in some form. Use it wisely so those who receive it, directly or otherwise, will know where it came from and decide if it is worthy of keeping, if it will become part of them—although some legacies are hard to shake. Many people are no-fuss, low-key individuals and that’s fine, however, they may not know it but they will intrinsically leave a legacy. A legacy is more than an amount of money or property left to someone in a Will. I believe it can be found in a good book or website (thanks Paula) but rarely in texting or social media. A legacy transcends time. Think about it. I bet you can recall a parent, sibling, teacher, partner, child, best friend or workmate saying or doing something you have not forgotten. Basically it’s the essence of that person you experience and instinctively preserve. A legacy can be as big as a skyscraper or a single gentle word, both of equal value, and both can leave a remembrance. If it is bad, destructive or no value, it should be dismissed and a life lesson learned from it. In turn you can pass on a better legacy so others will benefit. That’s what a legacy is! Sometimes you don’t know until years later (sometimes never) that your legacy of word or deed was appreciated. And it doesn’t matter if you hold a very special legacy close because you will inexorably create your own for someone else. Make it good. GBW.
The goal of theSandford Meisneracting technique has been described as getting actors to “live truthfully under imaginary circumstances” yet one has to take into consideration the author, writer, screenwriter, playwright who first penned the words, the tools of an actor’s trade♥Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2021
To assist the modification from page to screen by meeting the market half-way, writers are chasing the more lucrative side of wordsmithing by hammering out books which have the actions, expressions and dialogue of movie characters.
If you are dreaming of seeing your work as a major motion picture, professional screenwriters can adapt existing books, hence the words ‘based on’ when you view a book-to-movie deal.
Read on for my thoughts on the situation…
Good news for the future of the film industry but what about the book industry?
Should a writer write a novel similar to a filmscript? I guess if you are determined enough you can learn, but what are you sacrificing along the way? Formatting is important; not too much, not too little. Your characters will be noticeably shallower, the scenery will be sketchy and the action will be like every TV series you have ever watched.
Bend to a market whim? What makes the difference is being different! With or without a movie contract, if you write in a hybrid format, your novel has less chance of standing amongst the notables of your decade. I’ve read several amalgams in the last month. Believe me, it shows.
In my opinion, there is a market for the TV-ready book/screen blend of writing but it is light-weight and not the same as solid, descriptive, memorable words which feed a book reader’s imagination.
And herein lies the problem. There are eager new readers just the same as in the past, but now they are looking for ‘movie action’ because they have grown up with on-demand screens. Substance is not as favourable, skimming is the name of the game.
Again, I say this is a disservice to the reader as well as the book industry.
It’s a long haul and immediate gain for the primary writer is unlikely. Say a director/producer likes your work, every page you have written means extra money is needed in production and, as we know, the financial aspect rules. Gone are the days of blockbuster world success—think LOTR or J K Rowling’s Harry Potter.
Durability is the name of the game. You can find countless info and advice on writing a screenplay or TV script and if you want to do it you will—bearing in mind that any formula has restrictions, your manuscript will not resemble the finished product.
Look closelyat Michael Connelly and other writers who have made the transition, in particular their previous jobs. They will have ‘connections’, they will move house ‘to be closer to their work’, they will have ‘legal advice’, an abundance of ‘good luck’, an ‘understanding family’ and other clichés but not the words ‘smooth sailing’.
Write with your heart, write something strong and original, write a standalone which shines with your own unique qualities.
Congratulations to the successful writers listed below. I am still dazed at my accomplishment, a double dip! The two short stories I submitted have been close to my heart for some time and it is truly wonderful to have them recognised.
The Estelle Pinney Short Story Competition is Australia-wide and I am the only member of Society of Women Writers Queensland to win honours this year. Such a privilege!
Prizes:
1st Prize: ‘Baby’ by Jean Flynn (Victoria)
2nd Prize: ‘Tram 86’ by Melanie Persson (Western Australia)
3rd Prize: ‘Remnants of Miriam’ by Gretchen Bernet-Ward (Queensland)
Three Highly Commended:
‘One Hundred Year Old Feet’ by Margaret Ogilvie (South Australia)
‘Mero in the Library’ by Gretchen Bernet-Ward (Queensland)
‘Not Everything is Cut & Dry’ by Maree Gallop (New South Wales)
Three Commended:
‘Portraits’ by Megan Hippler (Queensland)
‘The Lies of Love’ by Jo Mularczyk (New South Wales)
‘The Birthday Present’ by Lynne Geary (Victoria)
(Award certificates below)
The competition judge, Lauren Daniels, is director of the Brisbane Writers Workshop. Lauren is a qualified editor, author, mentor and trainer of professionals, academics, writers and editors.
I would like to thank the President and Committee of Society of Women Writers Queensland Incand acknowledge author Estelle Pinneyfor her ongoing encouragement via this competition. It is a morale boost to have my work recognised and financially rewarded.
In the spirit of giving, I have donated my prize money back to the Society. It may help a new member, or go towards a workshop at Bribie Island Writers Retreat, or perhaps an event with cake!
Thoughts Become Words 