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Who doesn’t love visiting places they’ve read about in books? My first novel, Laura the Explorer, is set in Sydney, Australia, though more specifically in and around Manly Beach area. While a lot of the locations are fictional, there are a few exceptions. (Plus certain real places that inspired fictional ones). So here they are – some of my favourite places in Sydney, which either feature in, or inspired, scenes from the book!
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What a strange year this has been. First, thick, blanketing smoke forced us into our houses with the windows and doors shut tight. Then the super-scary COIVD-19 virus appeared, sending us scurrying inside once again. Here in Australia, we seem to have been extremely lucky and dodged the full-blown outbreaks the rest of the world seems to be suffering from. However, a new resurgence has just forced the state of Victoria into a harsh new lockdown, and I know everyone here in Sydney is now holding our breaths … what will the next few weeks bring for us?
As a writer, I already work from home every day as it is. However, lack of social contact is my biggest challenge. And where once, friends and family used to think I was ‘living the dream’ by getting to work from home every day, now I think many people will realise that working from home isn’t quite the dream lifestyle they thought it was. Who would have thought we’d all miss that ‘water-cooler chat’ quite so much? (or realise just how important it is to have contact with other humans every day!)
That being said, this isn’t a blog about how to work from home without going crazy (as a writer, I’m arguably already fairly up-there on the crazy scale). This is a blog about the exciting world of story-telling, making books and trying to convince people to read them! So, on to my writing updates!
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Well it’s official: I’ve now published two novels. Eat Pray Shag is out in the world, and the comments and reviews from readers so far have been so wonderful. Everyone who’s read it has loved this book—many even more so than Laura the Explorer—and I now have people waiting eagerly for book 3 in the series!
So, what has it been like publishing my second book? I’ve learnt a few new things, but also have learnt a few what-not-to-do things. Here’s my breakdown of the positives and negatives about publishing my second book:
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It’s time for the most exciting part of the book creation process… the cover design reveal! This is one of my favourite parts about being an indie author, because I’m the one who has full say over the cover design. So often I hear stories of authors with traditional publishing houses who have almost no say in their covers – and often hate the finished design – and I also often see books in bookstores and find myself questioning if that is the best cover for that book. But being independent means I’m the one creating the brief, choosing my designer, and requesting changes to the cover. I get to have full control, which is a great thing (although it comes with a range of warnings I’ll talk about later!)
Before I start breaking down the cover design process for Eat Pray Shag, let’s start by taking a look at the beautiful finished design:
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Summer is rapidly fading here in Sydney, and aside from a quick trip to Singapore with my Mum (no we didn’t get coronavirus there, but we did get our temperatures checked everywhere we went) it’s been back into the swing of author-life for me.
In early Feb I participated in a Romance Writers of Australia critique matchmakers night – basically speed-dating for writers looking for writerly friends! I was lucky enough to connect with two amazing authors, and am thoroughly enjoying being able to chat about writing-related things with them both (as opposed to attempting to talk about this with anyone else and watching their eyes glaze over in boredom). If anyone is a writer of a genre that could loosely be called romance, then these events are definitely worthwhile! Honestly, trying to make writer friends who are at a similar level professionally to you is almost impossible. But speed-dating for writers is a great starting point.
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Welcome to the website of Sarah Begg, Australian writer and independent author.