tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28926188949130256422024-03-21T13:25:01.647+11:00Renee Conoultyreading, writing, rhymingRenee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comBlogger738125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-71931142216594534982023-07-25T11:30:00.001+10:002023-07-25T11:41:37.253+10:00Lights, camera, me?<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTUzOTg4NjQ1NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODgzOTIyMQ@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTUzOTg4NjQ1NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODgzOTIyMQ@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />Did you know I was once an extra in a Disney movie about Shirley Temple? This is the story of how I stumbled into my 15 seconds of fame on the small screen.<p></p><p>Back in 2000, I was 23 years old and living in Melbourne. At the time, I had recently become obsessed with swing dancing. One day, a few of my dance friends and I were invited to be extras in a movie called Shirley Temple: A Child Star. I never imagined doing something like that, but it sounded glamorous so I jumped at the opportunity – or should I say, danced at it!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Becoming a Movie Extra</b></p><p>I was working as a physiotherapy assistant in an aged care rehab ward. I took a day of annual leave and drove to the big old hall where they were filming for the day. </p><p>I spent hours sitting around in a tent waiting for hair and makeup. Then we girls crammed into a trailer to get dressed up in 40s style clothes - long dresses and high heels. Definitely not my usual stretchy t-shirt and flat shoes dance attire!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Dancing on Set</b> </p><p>My dance friends were couples who practiced together often. But I came alone, so they paired me up on the day with another swing dancer I knew. </p><p>The music was fast, the floor slippery, and it was all I could do to stay upright, let alone look glamorous! With the lights, cameras and directions, it felt like another world. The strangest part was when they filmed dialogue and we had to dance silently - all you could hear was shuffling feet.</p><p>We danced...and danced...and danced some more. Then it was time to change and go home. They wanted me back the next day for school scenes, but I decided helping people walk again was more exciting than movie extra work. I’m more of a doer than a sit-around-and-waiter!</p><p><b>My Cameo on Camera</b></p><p>The movie came out in 2001 on TV and video. I still have it on a VHS tape in storage but no way to watch it. Eleven years ago I managed to digitize my brief dance scene and share it on Facebook. </p><p>You can see my armpit go past the front of the screen about eleven seconds in, and my face flashing past in the background a couple times as I turn. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzyP7B_-9eYOnI8ZXUc7dVWyCfl9Ra-giSEbE5CxWBnpZuxXE5h0MjI3ltiEYL2Ve2V4FEEMJKXR5yPdEW2qw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">My love of swing dancing from that time has stayed with me over the years and even worked its way into my fiction writing. If you want to read one of my stories featuring swing, check out my book "Don't Mean a Thing." </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
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</form></center>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-22460045743811310332023-04-08T12:04:00.001+10:002023-04-08T12:04:08.341+10:00Radio Interview<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZc-cHu1xr2SOXFNMCkmvW6K2bndJ-ftP_mb66vwXFL51ovJQ4KctHAy7hmQIg0fIV_p-Jpcrqjjji11NIL2xsqog4cb6vwWppBu8ZE4e--2cTS2H6iDNiSnBFZ_PqeczB8sDIK1ds1SSXPbjZ8CGP3IWgmATRBDh68g0C8DdHbzBpUWd8yC_c2WX6/s2222/20230408_070749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Smiling woman in radio studio with microphone" border="0" data-original-height="1633" data-original-width="2222" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZc-cHu1xr2SOXFNMCkmvW6K2bndJ-ftP_mb66vwXFL51ovJQ4KctHAy7hmQIg0fIV_p-Jpcrqjjji11NIL2xsqog4cb6vwWppBu8ZE4e--2cTS2H6iDNiSnBFZ_PqeczB8sDIK1ds1SSXPbjZ8CGP3IWgmATRBDh68g0C8DdHbzBpUWd8yC_c2WX6/w320-h235/20230408_070749.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>In April 2023, I published a couple of picture books inspired by the names of a couple of local cafes (<a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/the-badger-hare.html">The Badger & the Hare</a>, and <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/the-ticklish-turtle.html">The Ticklish Turtle</a>). Posting about them in a local Facebook Community group caught the attention of the Saturday Breakfast producer for ABC Gippsland radio and she invited me to come on the show. I had so much fun. Have a listen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dynlaKaU5KJTtxZctidHJnMlfXjpqs5OHjaJEQu5eOulbxnRq8D4QBGCkc0FtU7UytEq1M-W6QcWuwDX38emg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-36592977507600582372023-01-27T19:15:00.010+11:002023-11-06T17:54:44.168+11:00Keen Read<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcn3mauG5o-bt-uY2hw4I_nfOpCbwQ-YJ1eFCcgpochcziZllmVWloFipWcW8_hBISWl2S21WSGS0clP_Z2dfeiITl-3kPqKPjAokrE0d3eMhKdQHgYxnMPUpZH5RTC4lmcPSONJGcEE9PqfEsRH33SIkgVwrMA6sZmmfM-DG6dGZUQnhglgC4ohHx/s600/Untitled%20design.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcn3mauG5o-bt-uY2hw4I_nfOpCbwQ-YJ1eFCcgpochcziZllmVWloFipWcW8_hBISWl2S21WSGS0clP_Z2dfeiITl-3kPqKPjAokrE0d3eMhKdQHgYxnMPUpZH5RTC4lmcPSONJGcEE9PqfEsRH33SIkgVwrMA6sZmmfM-DG6dGZUQnhglgC4ohHx/s16000/Untitled%20design.png" /></a></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Keen Read</h3><h2 style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;">High interest, low reading level beginner chapter books.</div><br style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/the-horse-of-my-dreams.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oLxkZ2e3k5yk86olzOXPiRcfIhDNmpn855NFC6SPw5GI7oYp9UBHsvJAtLaj62Eurn5-cSz0gAJ5njyjVc8glPc3TjE3Bt-gtHeO7tl-UlfN2SyfCsrnpgNl8uA9TrFbVDe3NSKAgQURuLKKqkHEMW1cGV2KU9aYSQ72U7M30cWmTOUkTUz3C-p7/w126-h200/The%20Horse%20of%20my%20Dreams.jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/alexs-new-school.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZbbDdwZ9k6wgUkXMfPfwUfCWp5MtsxTx-NlLlwy_uAM9p07Urs6NrPJdaAy5Bzd9JTSwDvJ8PWcR42JninTuKPHPasANTyaRFouzqGkicqMEAol282icVpXaW3KZ2FZ7PBykjj2pTGFOUPXBe0tAevmH7OuTzmDt4ux0DXuTPjIWpYZEP6qtYjTm/w126-h200/Alex's%20New%20School.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/crushed.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLB89SWJ7RmnoQFCXujhuvGdTWWOzCaIx97nuAcxIcrofOuBCj9N9n4bbpTEKhqWB2R2h7AcKvxq2jpKUVo36O4fzygO-QpAnkpaMIuB8kghiOLlZAffoGjmH0AaXzIHOvAiD96SnSnZyJdWgsmUjukpJLoATXazWzsSQvHFffGsv5Vq_pYAbaT5u/w126-h200/1.jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/unflappable.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Cco3yKCoiWrl2k1d91Q7ETfDsItL2Vcz-cDYAdMPSrV7sSkfWfVHDUm--XSX3SDU0zF9yq4EZO9QZ2J__f-lhENsHRpHrbtMB-RN6LRu2ZGO9L9VqR866fjgn3rPwWVuCiIiAAzVMNP7A6A8b9ynirMUK-oCpSo-o_5q1i6tigQvrqjcR95RKkev5xI/w126-h200/Unflappable%20ebook.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/learning-lingo.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxZfK3w9VbfpphHGGLEJ7Y2I4JoA4grFy5eYDcY3f48ZBVMRP6GI-vJEqHKD_5OQOofR2gWIEXjuqE1pjCyJpHGqA4Cjru1rR26Oe0Z3W998-o08aFR01i_XVhXfr6u9UeFHHD3sClTMRvrcO_XPqeuP35YHTnMjJw55kIBdpd0WJ73BM5QrN5x3QtqA/w126-h200/Learning%20the%20Lingo%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a></div></h2>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-79962288507390436102022-11-14T14:52:00.001+11:002022-11-14T14:52:00.156+11:00My First SingleStory ideas come from all kinds of places. <a href="https://books2read.com/heartswings" target="_blank">Heart Swings</a> was inspired by our destination wedding in Thailand. <a href="https://books2read.com/TMI" target="_blank">Too Much Imagination</a> came from a writing prompt my kids had during remote learning. The dialogue in <a href="https://books2read.com/noisybrain" target="_blank">Eric's Noisy Brain </a>is straight out of the classroom I'm working in.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://books2read.com/bottoms" target="_blank">I Like Sniffing Bottoms</a>, well, that came from watching my dog sniff my cat's bum one Friday night, after unwinding with a glass of wine or two. Silly rhymes, lots of giggles and next thing I know, I'm singing my story. The next day, I had an earworm the whole time I was formatting the picture book, so I downloaded a music writing program and put that little ditty on paper. I shared my melody with my choir director and after she told me that her and her husband had that tune stuck in their heads all day, I decided to record myself singing the story to include in the audiobook edition. </div><div><br /></div><div>My kids pretty much peer pressured me to put the song on Spotify, so on top of learning a sheet music writing program, I also learnt how to release a single and distribute it. And why stop at Spotify? You can now hear me singing about sniffing bottoms absolutely everywhere! You can use my song as the soundtrack to your Insta reels or TikToks or just stream it from your favourite platform. For every ten times you listen, I'll earn about 3 cents, so listen to your hearts content. Just remember that the song is about dogs not me...</div><div>
<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="80" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/artist/3Pl8WAj5D8DxJZFXzyRs6X?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbzFzl5RHLmgvoJZun0HdhyDeGib1Nv3cO9ilCY7Ca37oIK_wf4S8dI0lTjlEvn9nYBM-EqFcgETpo93K08tYGmEOCgoEdwG9Zp1J2BZpdRPzPI6eeyvwwjK3FzAYf1yEYh_PyOZa1dpkrvAiDF4xbIWf9uFRSMqm0aetu0Ag6dGdbt9GzU4C9IuxW/s2339/056dd3c5ced8487192bbd3c1465470bcYygG2aXe7K9jnZPA-0.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2339" data-original-width="1653" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbzFzl5RHLmgvoJZun0HdhyDeGib1Nv3cO9ilCY7Ca37oIK_wf4S8dI0lTjlEvn9nYBM-EqFcgETpo93K08tYGmEOCgoEdwG9Zp1J2BZpdRPzPI6eeyvwwjK3FzAYf1yEYh_PyOZa1dpkrvAiDF4xbIWf9uFRSMqm0aetu0Ag6dGdbt9GzU4C9IuxW/s320/056dd3c5ced8487192bbd3c1465470bcYygG2aXe7K9jnZPA-0.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgzaEUbxRAmpuV64KDMiHwYh3taq4qPJgFvA-m21g4bG3GdE-lTBRMy3HDMGwQwIinKCsIoAwavaiW5tJeDi8SbVf2U2ye4F4arxXblPA8y9BSzQnAbZW0pfAQw0TLFCb3SzNt02mUi6wJcJA3oy_ukc_QmoheGRfun_C9tvsf8thly1ReEqiCrYi/s2339/056dd3c5ced8487192bbd3c1465470bcYygG2aXe7K9jnZPA-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2339" data-original-width="1653" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgzaEUbxRAmpuV64KDMiHwYh3taq4qPJgFvA-m21g4bG3GdE-lTBRMy3HDMGwQwIinKCsIoAwavaiW5tJeDi8SbVf2U2ye4F4arxXblPA8y9BSzQnAbZW0pfAQw0TLFCb3SzNt02mUi6wJcJA3oy_ukc_QmoheGRfun_C9tvsf8thly1ReEqiCrYi/s320/056dd3c5ced8487192bbd3c1465470bcYygG2aXe7K9jnZPA-1.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-84135398159367803492022-06-13T19:24:00.022+10:002023-11-06T18:10:58.885+11:00Picture Books<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmKKxSRP2pcyGoVeGzBCU3K3xUw944PjfcPZ092bRLVu-imEIpF1wxvQd-bYtD42Ms4zB8PgDlj5fiR9Zb9lBDBJVagG207oaVLhi0_qdTjW6U48tV9A1871qofwRYSYF9ILMWBEfHfeIi-AZitOXMXLBq43oLfepN9lbHaYN57PVN5eazlctIjnO/s600/Untitled%20design.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmKKxSRP2pcyGoVeGzBCU3K3xUw944PjfcPZ092bRLVu-imEIpF1wxvQd-bYtD42Ms4zB8PgDlj5fiR9Zb9lBDBJVagG207oaVLhi0_qdTjW6U48tV9A1871qofwRYSYF9ILMWBEfHfeIi-AZitOXMXLBq43oLfepN9lbHaYN57PVN5eazlctIjnO/s16000/Untitled%20design.png" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">This & That series</h2><p style="text-align: center;">Cute animals, fun rhymes and an inappropriate poo.</p><p style="text-align: center;">What more could you want in a picture book?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/this-kitten.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31i+Bg0eLsL.jpg" width="125" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/this-puppy.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR3zkXRHhZSCtW2mLEawLgnMsPsobNzGexZLMlXoPEHVrj31sWBsCyUBlotYyxzE8jyl_Yx88fOJK795HwA4bCKp-5Fxx3UAcM9hU8iQ7Q8SkFVsHOmS0a2wSyNcqiz3tb0u45YI-a932FkwJNJE5JGfB6nXiJYu__pyKsrbb9Gxg_f-aaOL4Arcw8/w126-h200/This%20Puppy%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/this-bunny.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKM9VuxvykfbcwPoUKpargqxKXMmjRB5M-IspMcGVW4qTPgyrN5yeZTJhROTA2gD0my16MQ6PSvjsxVnkvJjCLuN6fZnOMGIwhYlTKGc9FXv1yv-6TskargdJXWZtS7iSlxTcdHWtmHx3WSs6WKt52AwvLgGZ4d3ig2dDrAbT-ew52DU2rCnKjcEo/w126-h200/This%20Bunny%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/this-bird.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZbSSP1biU8cV1yK9E7QErRF8O6K-CWmC7ymIvosNHf8s4e3Zwi1_otcEjSGxiH0YZ-tzd109jyqT_9xoTy0h9YF5NSfD_DJ7DDotz1cMiY1fW-VTreofwW2kqJmoTsLUSE29lBaUhbyyCIlflg5h_q9n15UHl9d1PfRvf-aBCrJvjAjAnYngiP5S/w126-h200/This%20Bird%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/this-mouse.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvo8UaPL-kjHCBJ1bnxqfTrjjIZUFJ7wFVmDdU_i82viRIuHRdHGclgNWFd9b-9GXW5U5CGFO_XGkKoLWSymXU9rMt1olMqnu5Av9un78uXTg2ZuJrWcAdxitaDS1QPBZXjStMvnESMkCbaDJ73BL9ZM3L_tLjnYtHndcfTAjwyYhompFFAfv005P/w126-h200/This%20Mouse%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/this-horse.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6Kd6XxBb7d7HXQkoUv4lholDCRE3np_4Us63sZBtj7Q_ip4_VcLo0z21SufmhlTaJGMFVI9RMxFn4HC4OcWUlzWQr7fUql5qhjy1R9-Q2nEHiSNoZfFIQPkzngvJI0649BmOJEIuzJ2ny2p_VhMAxiDmFYrZBtZGEnzE0arzlW3v0Q0MIdZYtotr/w126-h200/This%20Horse%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><h2 style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Standalone Picture Books</h2><div style="text-align: center;">Fun illustrations, relatable characters and everyday life.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/a-flower-in-her-hair.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-9ZRMaMWLl86v7uzzq_yjQpqDNmn9fpSpmjSKXLCULEtHEOFIdYq846_ygdBfkLFq3cJYwXFwdTi5y2bwxoiErXiKHmh0Rpbn1TciuI-EL5uzlEM3ILRUqL4uskY0ISirNJp3dgtB5r4kg5Yyq2ng7q8XzjPmDlOJjijiyqDTXJpxP2YCHjlW5Rk/w126-h200/a%20flower%20in%20her%20hair%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/erics-noisy-brain.html" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><h2 style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Spanish Editions</h2><div style="text-align: center;">Ilustraciones divertidas, personajes cercanos y cotidianos.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/erics-noisy-brain.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZjHCZS4g1HmX50CD053Iqt7rnt-9khnlOHmZHuOe8wb1w5JYjXQ-kz9PSGYLa0uz7mUVGQ4qBAjsJdV1wtdhF5GB6SLalNkBLyawAk-b6IfhXSDEDiKV4hVLfyvr60Zt2WAxnzTw7H2OnHs6Aj8NiEstQ4dwD5zZODhn01cVjO6kB2gGCSGZieP3D/w126-h200/Eric%20ebook%20cover%20(1).jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/im-not-tired.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMOvgZZIibVr0uEV2bQoz2GElo4Lpuz6OSNFuel0Ync5XkB7R75KjiwiRAFuMUNbB4NVt-9NUtpGgo2Ug48yYHMhkKPyg1cFEoKT7hQ9QR4s4UMd7Nf4UTRCyCB123DUczy1u40cFhI6ZREQR7kJa6loLCGuaHFYReIVk0aoT8NtkjYvEOc7Sf8iH/w126-h200/I'm%20Not%20Tired%20Spanish%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/little-fish-is-hungry.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMWl20KBLBei2xjfWkI9lorfUu6-qbpxFITsySVoF-W7bVtYYZnwEBDwnCFd5ziWA4Ks7tZHX6Vids-jaFImDu0Q5e-FGRlzerbomC9KbFfBfqDy-XsN5zHyGdvC_wJL25SZpy8Jl4Mvm0hThaWNM1lk0VV0TtD7g4_c6NXb8XtJ07U2ACnoq-IfWq/w126-h200/Little%20Fish%20ebook%20cover%20(2).jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/the-cloud-painter.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhju13rl_LjXHzJqpWmTKqkFaCqA0juhsHh3yKs7HIVl0gjVF1hQQtOu_gTQo1FoUGmOKlFOf-WiWWqCweGElweSzh1ns3kYLiYzTx3ggBZ_nuatdnEtI0I0Poxnk2orptQRsYpJV0lrJJeCM2KXxYPkcru2vcL9IW2y5SeZnLvfswzhAOMM_LYuQNnpjM/w126-h200/Renee%20Conoulty%20(2).jpg" width="126" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Italian Editions</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Illustrazioni divertenti, personaggi simpatici e vita quotidiana.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/erics-noisy-brain.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCjmrFyEHn3oejKBhdL4KXAh32nHfQ_QvVyc95L6U5qWCMLGbtm0pnS1cxkdrcv73dYVVprAKRakQY-9o8MRJIM1mwj489PD89MwlLTiqZGYyJdCwbgNYF25CuE0oeOQmBNFVLXSDdPRM-ASdmmaOdty9VnbScjSTZ1P2fr6LeYDLTfnLLMuAvi13/w126-h200/Italian%20-%20Eric%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/im-not-tired.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4hH50HtL0nRYzvOvYNGfzBYRfZ2-wEh__YPp3gIE2ukrBlrfRNrB8sUFWywnZI1DnsEoog8PoEGO-zhb0Rq1TvWt4cOFkCH6eWSPtJ-pnUiPXlI9MuvItfSi5Ie4cZn3TjazAkZdxrgPYQzqDAg1UUO4-oahNyXaXwnYV4-d8kPoe1zJP_rAntaL/w126-h200/I'm%20Not%20Tired%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/little-fish-is-hungry.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FLDdYrqdse9pS1kGCYQtbf9JQg8jhkbenxDgzMv8666h1QxFgpjy3J8UAJCsxvtF6hYkHaQIAA5AjGcQHHZSJyYiil3JAISTfJkZxYM5aSNjxQ7eWFvl_n8k1KOB8Ur8LzaCzrOlPos8If_S54VVNpGqK43HES41oF3nDCm-SJq4FOQfqwY1wICL/w126-h200/Little%20Fish%20ebook%20cover%20(4).jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://books2read.com/u/mVej55" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ99e9z20XO9QBo53WjhyOv-rw7JYoWL1MELNtF4wr_p4sObA7XXd3FfqVg0ueOzDhmueQ3C0iybFcvxiQjhAgUvWmpnHggoRpFJLxJLBRWMqSYvg9IELkLsQu-PfO_WgZ8vX169e1uaa_i_SVqHitP6CL0JIl4AqGz21_aTKnHBUxa_MHNMGabE-pVQ4/w126-h200/The%20Cloud%20Painter%20ebook%20cover.jpg" width="126" /></a></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">German Editions</h2><div style="text-align: center;">Lustige Illustrationen, sympathische Charaktere und das tägliche Leben.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/im-not-tired.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXpU3X2rlDH9ZV9JfK2OkJ_-aUjBCjgAZJOxJQP1GyIuGcnqD03bgNmqHHbhvCYaDatpcKDEfTV6e-q_QrhI_2Rau359IkEpJ9O4_yweAmCp6AxW7hElWBDRHUpZIMZBCMBBCxtqqfRC6j_WDj7KzYg0K1VutaorXvA6oaZ2rEqvEGvwBL49VfBIW/w126-h200/I'm%20Not%20Tired%20ebook%20cover%20(2).jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/little-fish-is-hungry.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WZIsm0nKPk5fmBln_jaSR_7qVWPSLKaVJ90rjmJTa1ad678fZW1RKGehtbY0u-ayUbJMGEiyH-6AK-LBfm-Ywu7Gzo70XDRE960wfZTOI4DpHGQHIEdqBxj9SDiJRDcacaqbPrjZ9Se2iqqns_pq_zs1JoE9IGX4r5d-eFC-f13mDJIB1mgcDoaJ/w126-h200/Little%20Fish%20ebook%20cover%20(3).jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://books2read.com/u/b5wOxl" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdfkUngQflZSTOSQNxLQxJXVVfYuArneN-r-vAyZ6AIDtMq-9x8b-kWdqaB7hIt7a8PonuA2HxRufCJaPiy47jiYRf1xtI16wNAZ8GSUWY2U9f8L9017Amz5r2TwC06UUQZXt12zGwwnQxVEKJGoDPfOOyJU-1tPRnGKjK24LUNLDADsUR7USBccfyYsA/w126-h200/The%20Cloud%20Painter%20ebook%20cover%20(1).jpg" width="126" /></a><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">French Editions</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Illustrations amusantes, personnages attachants et vie quotidienne.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/im-not-tired.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxla0ACdoUMuiEwO-aEmWAxbZ92hG-xpTb3ntg4o8ikkWuv5HsJsjQrGLjUfoDQNuBZk_U2_SSgiUeweLydmNXX697aB6wL80BeOICdfIhCy92X4V1x7Jm92-Dtnb9p3GrcHkz3qBTHwRqmy-Fb02DAYH-kljFegv0SYFK0c8Q2Zoh1bu7Xc_rRZHg/w126-h200/I'm%20Not%20Tired%20ebook%20cover%20(3).jpg" width="126" /></a> <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/little-fish-is-hungry.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL41VYwmFA5zZJdo0z7pnzSJz3MrsRieTT_hQ_fPkzS5nC0gXekWZdp81Mjyrc9mHHDsCFBq-AMey_rwsFBUTgm4DLci02vpYXMTYjg8o-Z98lt2DknkuYez75sfQ12FUTo_hfYmQt-z1TCQ7oFW9rHqt3654Gf6hBhDwxbeeiaFprj7_yYOe6vFku/w126-h200/Little%20Fish%20ebook%20cover%20(1).jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://books2read.com/u/4EpWDM" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9tRpOonXPNgTZjgeKc6RLZvQ0AOfYeQHB_fHazwAzD0cjmVFv2Zi7sBoc0SLkiUMXZ81mbm0se2VNFTEA_6gJAJV0lnWXUuWp85NO_BHVBDON8MPiXOFWghC0iupI3TW9ZkTdAtUX-D0h2891et0F8SHD7RVYLL3WBREkEuUYJRqqL7D6WWT7MhWVQo8/w126-h200/The%20Cloud%20Painter%20ebook%20cover%20(2).jpg" width="126" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h2 style="clear: both;">Indonesian Editions</h2><div>Ilustrasi yang menyenangkan, karakter yang mudah dipahami, dan kehidupan sehari-hari.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://books2read.com/u/b6G97E" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdPLIvofgs6F4I2zQ_O6OGPlvetqwOFg8BbHrU3cFEAKPGXGSw_FhZCT2rO7jpXffyOpLsJ9YnweskTsmVb3rLzpu6U8Qe5k6aBHQCIVWRpyyaAhAn7ujezz_LCTFbA59L1z_yNFuV-fGwUmTCNpfdM5KjfM1BkIdr64LnqXpMBzvvpEAbhbvUJ0gLrk/w126-h200/Special%20Dress%20Day%20(ebook%20Cover)%20(2).jpg" width="126" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-14633841851462266172021-04-26T10:00:00.001+10:002021-04-26T10:00:00.214+10:00What if?<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcdL_-Y8STigIFyLbZ3_ulLhhq54vFgSCu0hbD46b6pP77TbGPIbwrr_II49oN0zk3AdGTzPLu0FYJ5JZaaidj4eH6W8q7zvlHaiTNAd35hPzhviavWdEyZ4M3uaT8QhyA9IvXqHp5tw/s2048/frank-mckenna-QROrwAt_WY8-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1363" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcdL_-Y8STigIFyLbZ3_ulLhhq54vFgSCu0hbD46b6pP77TbGPIbwrr_II49oN0zk3AdGTzPLu0FYJ5JZaaidj4eH6W8q7zvlHaiTNAd35hPzhviavWdEyZ4M3uaT8QhyA9IvXqHp5tw/s320/frank-mckenna-QROrwAt_WY8-unsplash.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>The Sheila Malady Short Story Competition runs each year as part of the Shakespeare on the River Festival in Stratford, Victoria. This year, I was the proud winner of the Gippsland section. The writing prompt was from Act II, Scene 2 of Julius Caesar.</p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;">Cowards die many times before their deaths</span></p></blockquote><p>Following is my winning entry. You can learn more about the competition and read past winning entries <a href="http://www.stratfordshakespeare.com.au/about-the-competition" target="_blank">HERE</a></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">What if?</h2>Howard’s phone vibrated and let out a gentle hoot. A distinctive sound, so he could recognise his phone, but subtle enough to not draw attention. An incoming message. He glanced at the screen, though he already knew it would be his twin sister. It was always Andrea. <br /><br /><i>Howie! Let’s change things up and eat at the club on Wednesday night. I’ve heard the food is great and they have a band and a free dance class! Girls love guys who can dance!!! </i><br /><br />Howard’s grip tightened around the glass screen. A dance class? <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br />I step into the club and scan the dimly lit room for a familiar face. I’m twenty minutes late. On purpose. Surely, she’ll have arrived before me? A sudden movement in the far corner captures my attention. Andrea. I don’t wave back, I just walk, pull out the chair opposite her and sit. <br /><br />“Howie! How are you!” <br /><br />I can hear the exclamation points. It’s not really a question. It’s her attempt at a polite intro. The bit she always throws in first so she can cover off on me and get to her own drama. <br /><br />“Fine. You?” I indulge her. It’s always easier to do that. She doesn’t really want to know how I am. And anyway, my week was boring. <br /><br />She natters on. I smile and nod and think about what to order for dinner. The chef’s special is written on a blackboard near the bar in bold white chalk. Pistachio crusted chicken. It sounds delicious. My mouth waters. Then my tongue fills my mouth. My lips swell. My throat closes over. I can’t breathe. Pistachios are nuts. I’ve never actually had an allergic reaction to nuts, but there’s a first time for everything. And I’d rather not have a first time for anaphylaxis. I retrieve the menu from the middle of the table and look for the plain chicken schnitzel with chips. Most places serve that. <br /><br />“I already ordered for you,” Andrea says. <br /><br />I raise my eyebrows. <br /><br />“Well, you were twenty minutes late and I’m starving!” <br /><br />Fair point. “What did you order me?” <br /><br />“Schnitty and chips. Tomato sauce on the side.” <br /><br />We both smile. <br /><br />The meals arrive. I cut my chicken into two-centimetre cubes and chew each mouthful twenty times. As we eat, the band sets up. A drum kit, a keyboard, a double bass, a saxophone, a trumpet. Jazz? I like jazz. A few odd notes ring out over the DJ’d music as the band tune up. <br /><br />The music from the speakers fades away and the band strikes up the first song of the set. It’s a catchy tune. Familiar, but not something I’ve ever heard on the radio. The kind of song you’d hear in the background of a black and white movie. My thumb taps on the table. <br /><br />People gather in pairs on the expanse of timber floor between our table and the stage. Hand in hand, they begin to dance. They step, they glide, they twirl. The dance moves appear intricate and unpredictable. How do they know what the other person is going to do? What if he steps forward at the same time she does? What if I trip over my own feet and knock them all down? I clamp my left hand over my right, stilling that wayward thumb. <br /><br />As I turn away from the dance floor, a woman catches my eye. She stands alone, leaning against the wall. A deep red dress hugs her curves, flaring out around her knees. It swishes in rhythm as she taps her foot. Her curly black hair is swept off her face, held back with a large white flower. She seems mesmerised by the music. I’m mesmerised by her. Slowly, she turns. Her gaze locks with mine. Her ruby lips lift at the corners. I reach up to loosen my collar, but my grey t-shirt doesn’t have one. <br /><br />Andrea kicks my ankle under the table. “Go and talk to her.” <br /><br />I grab the half-empty glass in front of me and gulp the icy water. “Nah. She doesn’t want to talk to me. She’s waiting for someone to ask her to dance.” <br /><br />“Well, ask her to dance, then.” <br /><br />And look like a fool when I catch my left foot on the heel of my other left foot and end up sprawled in the middle of the dance floor? Or even worse, walk away alone when she rejects me? “I don’t know how to dance.” <br /><br />“The lesson will start soon, then you will know how.” <br /><br />My throat feels raw. I grab Andrea’s water glass and down the contents. It prickles and burns all the way down. “I don’t want to. I don’t like dancing.” <br /><br />Andrea grins. “You love music. You love dancing.” <br /><br />“Maybe when we were five but not anymore.” I glance at my watch. Quarter past seven. Fifteen minutes until the class starts. Fifteen minutes to escape. “I have a big day at work tomorrow. I really should head off now.” <br /><br />“Give me your keys. You’re not driving anywhere.” <br /><br />“What?” I demand. <br /><br />Andrea holds out her hand, palm up. “That’s what you get for stealing my drink. And for being too much of a scaredy-cat to go for your license when we were 18. If you weren’t still on your P’s, you could drive with half a vodka and lemonade under your belt.” Andrea smirks, her hand still outstretched. <br /><br />Vodka. Damn. I thought it was just my nerves that made the water feel strange. <br /><br />It will kick in soon. It doesn’t take much alcohol to lower my inhibitions. That’s why I never drink. I need to be in control. If I’m not in control… <br /><br />I might say something stupid. I might do something stupid. What if I try to dance? <br /><br />People might—no—people will. They will laugh. Silently, behind my back. In my face. At me. <br /><br />Nope. I can’t face being trapped in this nightmare. Never going to happen. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><br />Howard refocussed his gaze on the small screen. The little dots bounced as an incoming message prepared to arrive. <br /><br /><i>So??? What do you reckon??? </i><br /><br />Howard typed his reply. <br /><br /><i>Nah. Let’s just eat at my place, like usual. I have chicken schnitzel and chips in the freezer.</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.fmel5-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-0/p600x600/177855568_2582583391888093_4983812613747226554_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=a26aad&_nc_ohc=HLjZqfVofzwAX908KR0&_nc_ht=scontent.fmel5-1.fna&tp=6&oh=6f3d415e29953fd6fa7c7d3b73ae51b5&oe=60A917E8" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://scontent.fmel5-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-0/p600x600/177855568_2582583391888093_4983812613747226554_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=a26aad&_nc_ohc=HLjZqfVofzwAX908KR0&_nc_ht=scontent.fmel5-1.fna&tp=6&oh=6f3d415e29953fd6fa7c7d3b73ae51b5&oe=60A917E8" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://scontent.fmel5-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-0/p600x600/178224529_2582583395221426_1816626385972310684_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=a26aad&_nc_ohc=Db8uc6VpIlEAX-OVEgb&_nc_ht=scontent.fmel5-1.fna&tp=6&oh=9de0a89908ab578a76de87c98f013f41&oe=60AAA8B8" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://scontent.fmel5-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-0/p600x600/178224529_2582583395221426_1816626385972310684_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=a26aad&_nc_ohc=Db8uc6VpIlEAX-OVEgb&_nc_ht=scontent.fmel5-1.fna&tp=6&oh=9de0a89908ab578a76de87c98f013f41&oe=60AAA8B8" width="200" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><i><br /></i><br /> </div>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-90366619444206396762021-04-25T17:39:00.000+10:002021-04-25T17:39:55.208+10:00Remembering with all the senses<p> Hey Everyone,</p><p>Today is ANZAC Day. A day to take the time to reflect and remember the men and women who have served Australia and New Zealand in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. It's not a time to celebrate but to commemorate. </p><p>Our family began the day standing at the end of our driveway in the predawn light listening to the service streaming through our Bluetooth speaker. Later in the morning, I helped my children bake Anzac biscuits. Involving all the senses in this family tradition helps to build a lasting memory and link these things to the thoughts of those who have served.</p><p>Here's the recipe we used today.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZG17LiIvB3pPIn7y9H7BLQM3j2Hx3CnSG7ZP9FJbdbbmbOOfyxFUe-4yp9u3YWsFQaDH2MJw78JkIoo2h7JMIwrVXHKxvWa5AnVp4bC7hF0dmLj-qBVO5p0cjmrQzYyscru2LqWwO_s/s1552/20210425_124542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZG17LiIvB3pPIn7y9H7BLQM3j2Hx3CnSG7ZP9FJbdbbmbOOfyxFUe-4yp9u3YWsFQaDH2MJw78JkIoo2h7JMIwrVXHKxvWa5AnVp4bC7hF0dmLj-qBVO5p0cjmrQzYyscru2LqWwO_s/s320/20210425_124542.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Anzac Biscuits</h3><p><u>Ingredients</u></p><p>1 cup plain flour</p><p>1 cup rolled oats</p><p>1 cup desiccated coconut</p><p>1/2 cup brown sugar</p><p>1/2 cup caster sugar</p><p>125g butter</p><p>1 tablespoon golden syrup</p><p>2 tablespoons hot water</p><p>1 teaspoon bicarb soda</p><p><br /></p><p><u>Directions</u></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Mix dry ingredients (except bicarb) in a bowl and make a well.</li><li>Melt butter in microwave jug then add golden syrup, water and bicarb.</li><li>Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well.</li><li>Roll into balls and place on two trays lined with greaseproof paper.</li><li>Bake in moderate oven (180 degrees Celcius) for 10 minutes.</li><li>Eat the bits of uncooked mixture that you "forgot" to put on the tray.</li><li>Let biscuits cool on tray then enjoy with a cuppa or a glass of milk (or a glass of Milo that appears to have equal parts Milo and milk, if you're one of my kids who made themselves a drink while I was out of the room).</li></ol><div><br /></div><div>Commemorating doesn't have to be all serious. Take time to reflect then take time to live the free life that was fought for.</div><p></p>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-47524198757571859842021-01-12T16:25:00.000+11:002021-01-12T16:25:40.072+11:00Military Wife Life<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://militarywifelife.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MWL_FINAL_PODCAST-IMAGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://militarywifelife.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MWL_FINAL_PODCAST-IMAGE.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Hey Everyone!</p><p>In December, I was interviewed for the Military Wife Life podcast by fellow Australian military spouse Bec Rayner. You can find episode 77 on your favourite podcast app or listen below.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Military Wife Life- Episode 77. Military Police, Finding Work and Following Your Passion</h3>In this week’s podcast episode, I talk to Air Force spouse Renee about what it’s like when your Husband is a Military Police Officer, her struggles when it comes to finding employment and why following your passion is so important.<br /><br />Renee and I also talk about;<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>How she and her husband met, by chance, at a swing dance class</li><li>Why her husband wanting to apply for the Air Force was a joint decision</li><li>The stability defence offered their family at a time of uncertainty</li><li>Why her husband joined as a reservist and then went full time and why she wouldn’t recommend that path</li><li>What is required, day to day, of a Military Police Officer, time away and deployments</li><li>Posting around the country and reinventing herself a little at each new location</li><li>Her passion for swing dance and writing and how they have both helped her at various points</li></ul><br /> <br /><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="232" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/episode/6NiHVcqy1OZ82va1nC6xdA" width="100%"></iframe>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-60040479808427110902020-08-19T09:00:00.001+10:002020-08-19T09:00:03.907+10:004 ways to optimise your book for audio<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hey Everyone!<br />
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Audiobooks. They're the latest boom in the publishing world and you want one. But how do you make sure your book is optimised for narration?<br />
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Whether you write short or long, fiction or non-fiction, here are four simple ways to improve your writing before producing an audiobook.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
1. Write with Your Voice</h3>
Using speech to write you book in the first place will create a text that's well suited to be read aloud. Dragon Naturally Speaking is currently the most popular premium dictation software used by authors.<br />
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There is a learning curve involved in switching from using your fingers to your mouth to write, but once mastered, dictation can also boost your productivity while reducing repetitive strain injuries to your hands.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
2. Vary Sentence Length</h3>
As well as looking repetitive, a collection of sentences of the same length or rhythm will sound repetitive. You can find these trends with the <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/WritingReports?afid=7070" target="_blank">Sentence check in Pro Writing Aid</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hemingwayapp.com/" target="_blank">Hemingway app</a> is another online program that can help you flag these patterns.<br />
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3. Take Out Tongue-Twisters</h3>
Find the long, complex sentences in your manuscript and simplify them. You can do this by reading the text aloud and re-writing sections that you find difficult to say. You can also use <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/WritingReports?afid=7070" target="_blank">Pro Writing Aid to run a Readability check</a>. This will flag all the over-complicated paragraphs to consider re-writing.<br />
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Another type of tongue-twister is alliteration. This is where the same letter sound occurs at the beginning of words. Goold old Peter Piper picking pecks of pickled peppers comes to mind. <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/WritingReports?afid=7070" target="_blank">Pro Writing Aid also has an Alliteration check</a> to help you pursue these pesky patterns.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
4. Echo, Echo</h3>
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Repeated words and phrases particularly stand out when you listen to a story. Sometimes repetition can be used on purpose for a specific effect, such as in poetry or literary fiction, but when unintentional, it can throw a reader off. <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/WritingReports?afid=7070" target="_blank">Pro Writing Aid has a fabulous check for close repeats and echoes</a>.</div>
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Another type of echo is repeated sounds and rhyming. They may not be obvious in written form but when voiced aloud can stand out like a wet trout. The best way to pick up on this is by reading the manuscript aloud, whether you read it to yourself or use a text-to-speech program. I personally use the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hyperionics.avar&hl=en_AU" target="_blank">@Voice Aloud Reader app</a> on my android phone to listen to my book without being tied to my desk the entire time.</div>
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These tips are equally effective whether you plan to hire a narrator or record the audiobook yourself. If you are thinking about self-narration, grab yourself a copy of <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/narrated-by-author.html" target="_blank">Narrated by the Author</a> for step-by-step instructions on how to go from manuscript to MP3. One of the plusses about narrating yourself in that when you find a better way to say something while you're recording, you can edit the ebook to match.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*I've used affiliate links and alliteration where available.</span></div>
Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-69622352424380210242020-08-12T11:58:00.001+10:002020-08-12T11:58:35.971+10:00Inside My Brain<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DrcpdSrgzfPkYlRHBkO42AX7t6SS4Vd_52Frk67neuXHppwOpenUvBNGR5JrQz0H4UVOqgHJG-AHbRJtb4ywIAHpNuUhuXGFDtCQyanPfZDkI9TEFzczgqeGMQSd7c9KC02vRImXQ7Y/s2048/absolutvision-82TpEld0_e4-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DrcpdSrgzfPkYlRHBkO42AX7t6SS4Vd_52Frk67neuXHppwOpenUvBNGR5JrQz0H4UVOqgHJG-AHbRJtb4ywIAHpNuUhuXGFDtCQyanPfZDkI9TEFzczgqeGMQSd7c9KC02vRImXQ7Y/w410-h274/absolutvision-82TpEld0_e4-unsplash.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hey Everyone!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have you ever wondered what goes on inside a writer's brain? Sometimes, I'm not so sure myself but I'll give you a rundown of how mine worked over the past few days. I'm not a fulltime writer. If writing was my only source of income, I'd give myself a swift kick up the rear because I've been rather slack. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Friday </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I hadn't written anything new in ages. The general stress of life at the moment has stifled my creativity and I've been focussing on refilling my creative well (also known as binge-watching Netflix). I'd felt like I should be writing for weeks but had given myself permission to take a break, freeing myself from guilt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I received the monthly email from the Australian Writer's Centre, announcing the topic for this month's <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/2019/01/furiously-swinging-through-life.html">Furious Fiction competition</a>. I hadn't opened one of these emails in months and hadn't entered the competition since I'd published <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/swinging-through-life.html">Swinging Through Life</a> back in January 2019 (a flash fiction collection themed around swing dancing that I'd written over a year of entering Furious Fiction every month. On top of the competition prompts, I also included swing dancing). I opened the email on a whim and read through the requirements. As always, I had 55 hours to write a 500-word story. This time the story had to include humour. That was my style of writing. I could do this. I had 20 minutes before I'd planned to start dinner. I didn't have to write anything. I could just think about it for a while and get some ideas. No pressure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I jotted down the writing prompts in a random notebook.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Furious Fiction August 2020.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>humour/comedy </li><li>a sandwich</li><li>dizzy, exotic, lumpy, tiny, twisted</li></ul></div><p></p><p>My themes are dance, romance and military life, so they were the topics that came to mind.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>something dancing? rom com date picnic</li><li>milspouse find rotten sandwich while unpacking</li></ul><p></p><p></p><p>As an Australian military family, we have extra support when we move house. The movers pack all our belongings for us, which is really helpful. But I've also heard plenty of horror stories. Things get broken (they dropped our fridge one year - their insurance meant we got a new fridge, so that worked out ok). Or things get packed that weren't supposed to. I've heard lots of stories about the contents of the rubbish bin being packed. Gross. A friend of mine lost her cat during a packing day. Luckily, it turned up in the shipping container - alive but very hungry. The rotten food idea caught my attention. Ten minutes until I'd planned to start dinner. I'd just jot down a few ideas.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>goal - make new house into home - unpack stuff to make sandwich</li><li>motivation - milspouse - moving again, know will settle better when feel familiar - hungr</li><li>conflict - </li></ul><p></p><p></p><p>My mind started whirring. I didn't bother writing anything down for conflict. I knew the problems she would face. The chaos of unpacking day. I'd lived it. I'd just jot down a few more ideas...</p><p>Set up the story in the first 100 words. Establish the character's goal. She's hungry and wants to make a sandwich.</p><p>Introduce conflicts and make things worse over the next 300 words.</p><p>Give her what she wants, then twist things and take it away in the last 100 words.</p><p>The kids ate dinner late but I had the first draft. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Saturday</h4><p>When I'd entered Furious Fiction before, I usually plotted on Friday, wrote on Saturday then edited on Sunday. That way, the story had a chance to breathe. I'd already written 543 words. I had heaps of time to polish it. It was ok if I slept in until midday. I'd worked all week as a teacher's aide - both in paid employment at school and unpaid at home. I deserved a rest day. And some more Netflix (Kim's Convenience is hilarious).</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Sunday</h4><p>I had until midnight to edit and submit. That was hours away. Life happened. Completely forgot about Furious Fiction and went to bed.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Monday</h4><div>Spent day remote learning with my kids. Got outside in the sunshine and scooted around the local streets. Forgot about Furious Fiction.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Tuesday</h4><div>More remote learning. Mind busy with kids.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Wednesday</h4><div>Finished schoolwork early. Jumped on my laptop to replay a random webinar that showed up in my email inbox. Found the first draft of Furious Fiction entry open on the screen. Oops.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was way too late to enter but that didn't mean the story was a waste of time. I decided to polish it anyway then do something with it. Maybe share it with my newsletter? Maybe share it on my website? Should I turn it into a new podcast episode? I trimmed the word count to under 500 words (497). I wondered if people would be interested in seeing the before and after edit. I realised I hadn't written a blog post in ages. And here I am. At least I didn't get distracted by squirrels this time (that happened last time we did remote learning and I accidentally wrote a kids book called <a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/squirrels-quest.html" target="_blank">Squirrel's Quest</a> while helping my daughter with her schoolwork).</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's my story - complete with track changes so you can see how I changed the first draft to meet the word count limit. I've highlighted in red the words that I deleted from the first draft. I've highlighted in yellow the words that were required by the writing prompts and you can be the judge of whether it's funny or not.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Untitled </h4><p></p><p> Darwin was the last <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">option on my list of
places</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">place</ins></span> I wanted to live, but what I
wanted and what the military needed <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">didn’t often align.</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">rarely
aligned.</ins></span> Like them sending my husband <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">away for three weeks</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">out
bush</ins></span> the day before the movers arrived with all our stuff.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"> I’d spent all morning
yelling directions and ticking <span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">box </del></span>numbers
off a list. I was <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">dizzy</span> with hunger. A fresh loaf of sliced bread and new jar
of peanut butter sat on the table, calling my name. Nothing <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">exotic</span>, a simple
sandwich would do. I just had to find a plate and a knife. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">I ripped the tape off the first kitchen-labelled box and
peered inside. <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Lumpy</span> butcher’s paper. I unwrapped the items one by one.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">A plastic container.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Another plastic container.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">A plastic lid.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Did they really need to wrap those things? Having someone
else pack all your stuff had its pros but also had its cons.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">I shoved the items in my newly designated plastics cupboard,
too hungry to take the time to arrange them neatly. I had ages to sort the
house out before hubby came back. It wouldn’t really feel like home until he
was here, anyway.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Next kitchen box. More butcher’s paper, this time <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">twisted</span>
around a wooden spoon, a metal soup ladle and the <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">tiny</span> plastic corn cob forks. Utensils. Surely there would be a knife in
this one. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Nope. Not unless you counted my carving knife. But that
was too big to fit in the jar.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">I opened the last box in the pile. Socks and undies. Why
on earth was <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">this</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">that</ins></span> in
the kitchen? I checked the label. Master bedroom. Idiots.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">My stomach growled. I paced through the house, scouring the
labels on the boxes. I found two more kitchen boxes in the lounge room. Of
course. <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">Eeny meeny miny mo. </del></span>I grabbed the box
on the left and lifted it. Too light to be the crockery. <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">But did you really
need a plate to make a sandwich?</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">Whatever.</ins></span>
I ripped the top open and unwrapped the first parcel. Forks! This felt like a
winner.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">I dragged the box into the kitchen and shoved the forks
into the cutlery drawer. Tearing the paper of the next parcel, I squealed with
joy. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">Wielding a butter knife, I slapped <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">a couple of</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">two</ins></span>
slices of bread straight onto the <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">table</del></span>kitchen bench. I wrenched the lid off the jar, slathered a thick layer of peanut butter onto
one slice then plonked the other on top. My mouth watered as I raised the
<span style="background-color: #fcff01;">sandwich</span> to my lips. I took a huge bite, the gluggy lump sticking to the roof
of my mouth as I <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">ambled back into the kitchen to drop </del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">dropped
</ins></span>the dirty knife into the sink. The open box sat by my feet. <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">I figured
</del></span>I might as well <span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">put the rest of the cutlery away</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">keep
unpacking</ins></span> while I ate<span class="msoDel"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">.<span style="background-color: red;"> The knives clinked
as I dropped them into place</span></del></span><span style="background-color: red;">. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">I held my sandwich <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">with</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">between</ins></span>
my teeth and used two hands to life the next parcel onto the bench. It felt too
squishy to be spoons. I peeled the paper open. My gag reflex activated. My <span class="msoDel" style="background-color: red;"><del cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">teeth
jammed together</del></span><span class="msoIns"><ins cite="mailto:Luke%20Conoulty" datetime="2020-08-12T11:25">jaw clenched</ins></span>. My sandwich fell into
the rotting remains of the contents of my Victorian garbage bin.<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">I no longer felt hungry.</p>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-58537331699249010242020-08-03T09:53:00.000+10:002020-08-03T10:03:44.517+10:00Bookshelf Banter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://anchor.fm/bookshelfbanter/episodes/Author-Renee-Conoulty-ehgh36" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/production/podcast_uploaded400/7410996/7410996-1595194440146-165a70214c6c.jpg" width="200" /></a>Hey Everyone!<br />
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This week I was interviewed on Heather Balog's new podcast - Bookshelf Banter, where you'll discover new authors from the Rom Com, Chick Lit and Women's Fiction Genres.<br />
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We chat about audiobook narration, why I started writing and a whole lot more. Search for Bookshelf Banter on your favourite podcast app or hit the play button below and have a listen right here.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="102px" scrolling="no" src="https://anchor.fm/bookshelfbanter/embed/episodes/Author-Renee-Conoulty-ehgh36/a-a2pglrc" width="400px"></iframe></div>
Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-31895518160096896372020-07-03T17:17:00.005+10:002023-07-25T11:53:03.399+10:00Rockabilly Romance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sweet romance novella series with music, dancing and a super-cute kid.</h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dancing on the Grass</span></h3>
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<a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/dancing-on-grass.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1003" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunTOaP4YcrTODEfS7_Zi-WW79edQ0cUg-ndH6bLlHs7f9Rgx-6y3lOL2P5lu8iR8SZu5y2G0zSVgjcMNuqTG9_0AmP0GEj8aSVobF7kACAcFGgGcoc18lhhShDIek7aXZjDBJ9FF0WRc/w125-h200/1.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
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Libby Summers has been married but she'd never been in love. Not unless you count the all-encompassing passion she has for her four-year-old daughter, Chloe.<br />
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Carpenter by day and musician by night, Paul White only has time for lovin', not for love. The only strings he likes are the ones on his double bass.<br />
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Paul and Libby meet at a local music festival when he uses his tradesman skills to rescue her daughter. Will the mutual sparks be enough to burn down the door to Libby's heart? And will Paul ever realise that a musical instrument might be classed as baggage but little girls are not?<br />
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Dancing on the Grass is the first book in the Rockabilly Romance trilogy. If you like adorable kids and sweet romance, you'll love Renee Conoulty's romantic comedy novella.<br />
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Grab your copy and invite Paul, Libby and Chloe to twirl into your heart, today!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<input class="MyButton" onclick="window.location.href='https://books2read.com/grass'" type="button" value="Buy book" /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Dancing in the Sand</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaLtP74mR5ledQIIpJathxzVL4ieJgAC3UmOI0_6sceMpQ2Ye6CN4IRiySaayUhyur_7-q8wrTIrMtYTA4467b-ihsjqWPRZAstANw1vyqHzQj_LwkvLZ35tVm2RzZBSTrmFlZsey3rOCdaKyb6gPGw8PRXVuxtSAs3BVmD79e3zfmqwy4Cnd_mJWs8E/s2250/Copy%20of%20Copy%20of%20Rockabilly%20Romance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaLtP74mR5ledQIIpJathxzVL4ieJgAC3UmOI0_6sceMpQ2Ye6CN4IRiySaayUhyur_7-q8wrTIrMtYTA4467b-ihsjqWPRZAstANw1vyqHzQj_LwkvLZ35tVm2RzZBSTrmFlZsey3rOCdaKyb6gPGw8PRXVuxtSAs3BVmD79e3zfmqwy4Cnd_mJWs8E/w126-h200/Copy%20of%20Copy%20of%20Rockabilly%20Romance.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></form><center><i>When a little girl's secret message inspires a second chance at love, two wounded hearts overcome their fears.</i><br /><br />Libby Summers turned down Paul White's proposal, scared of being hurt again. Now his struggling business has forced him to pawn the engagement ring. Their blossoming relationship faces collapse.<br /><br />Unbeknownst to them, Libby’s daughter Chloe sends Paul a secret message, asking him to save the "dragon." Inspired, Libby journeys to make things right and prove love conquers all.<br /><br />With Chloe's wisdom guiding them, Paul and Libby face their insecurities and find deeper trust. Dancing in the Sand explores the power of love, communication and overcoming fears. This enchanting tale of family and relationships will sweep you away.<br /><br />If you enjoyed the heartfelt romance of Dancing on the Grass, Renee Conoulty's Dancing in the Sand continues the emotional journey of Paul, Libby, and Chloe. Experience the power of love, laughter, imagination and resilience.<br /><br />Grab your copy today. Join Paul, Libby, and Chloe as they dance through life's trials, hand in hand!</center><center>
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</center></div></div>Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-56716645452224255312020-05-06T14:25:00.000+10:002020-06-17T15:08:36.670+10:00Squirrel!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hey Everyone!<br />
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It's been a while since I've posted on here. Life has been busy. I've moved interstate, started making new friends in my new community then Corona Virus came along and shut everything down. I was struggling to focus with all the change in my life before the world turned upsidedown, and now that I'm in the middle of helping my kids do distance education, my brain is a little scattered.<br />
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Prior to becoming my kid's tutor, I was writing a romantic comedy novella but since my home has been invaded by student learners and a military cop, I've had trouble finding quiet moments to write. Okay, so my home wasn't technically invaded - they all actually live here - but I'm used to everyone else leaving for the day and having time to myself to write. Even though I usually stay home every day, my routine is the one that's suffered the most upheaval. I've given up my office and my desk to hubby and all my time to my kids. Some of that time has turned into inspiration, though.<br />
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My daughter had a writing assignment to do. To write a narrative about a squirrel going on an adventure using some set plot points. The focus was on dialogue and description. While helping her brainstorm ideas, I became intrigued by this little squirrel.<br />
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We live in Australia and we don't have squirrels down here. I've only ever seen them at the zoo or when went to Bali on a family holiday a few years back. My focus was diverted, yet again, by a squirrel and I followed him down the winding trail.<br />
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I set my laptop up on the dining table and wrote alongside my kids while they did their schoolwork. This encouragement helped my daughter write the longest story she's ever written and that encouraged me to finish my squirrel story. To celebrate our accomplishments, I published our stories in the latest Chirpy Chapters book - Squirrel's Quest.<br />
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<a href="https://payhip.com/ReneeConoulty/collection/kids-books" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="940" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHu6ZR7SM4WHurhhB7IunL4jE3ktNU_b5o84SEiKpDW_P8r5-C4Sul72ETJVE0YoEsIp4v3FFl3O8QhzV2sELdmXmLYTLI2k89AwiILs80ukUkjTjGUNWbQC34gHHDvmtqzl9K_qf0cTI/s640/Untitled+design+%25281%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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How cute is that cover?<br />
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The squirrel illustrations I used were so adorable that I decided to turn them into colouring-in sheets. You can download 8 colouring pages for free over here >>> <a href="https://payhip.com/b/rtK5">https://payhip.com/b/rtK5</a><br />
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The book is available as ebook and paperback. The audiobook edition is on the way soon.<br />
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If you live in Australia, you can get a signed copy with free shipping here >>> <a href="https://payhip.com/b/70r1">https://payhip.com/b/70r1</a><br />
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Otherwise try Amazon, Book Depository or wherever you buy your paperbacks online.<br />
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Here's the blurb.<br />
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<i>Everyone knows squirrels love to eat acorns, especially the creatures who like to eat squirrels...</i></div>
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Grey Squirrel wakes up to an empty house with an empty tummy. There's only one thing to do. Go and find himself something to eat. An acorn or three would be perfect.</div>
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All he needs to do is travel through the forest, over the river and across the clearing to the Old Oak Tree. What could possibly go wrong?</div>
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-21583375250806818252019-12-01T18:09:00.000+11:002020-06-17T15:15:45.657+10:00Christmas Countdown<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hey Everyone!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqIhc2rgiq620HDauapn9dgES_lXwX08TM3LYU83jdylmxSP2oURUs-rKpHXBcfv6QdcjMlTxZhR_ovrx80glI1IzaBb-KF-abob_2E6ALeieaF2z0uyP_JaGsDFHilRhUcOFHADM87Z4/s1600/photo-of-christmas-presents-749354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqIhc2rgiq620HDauapn9dgES_lXwX08TM3LYU83jdylmxSP2oURUs-rKpHXBcfv6QdcjMlTxZhR_ovrx80glI1IzaBb-KF-abob_2E6ALeieaF2z0uyP_JaGsDFHilRhUcOFHADM87Z4/s200/photo-of-christmas-presents-749354.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Count down to Christmas with an advent calendar that's kind to your waistline. Celebrate with Christmas romances bargains.<br />
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A new door will unlock each day so bookmark this page and come back again tomorrow.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="600" src="https://adventmyfriend.com/84159/496bdfbb79/?embed" width="800"></iframe></div>
Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-85560860626410816012019-11-20T19:00:00.000+11:002019-11-20T19:00:02.620+11:00The Rebel Author Podcast - How to DIY an Audiobook <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I had so much fun chatting with Sacha Black on The Rebel Author Podcast about how to record your own audiobook. The trickiest question she had for me was to tell her about a time I unleashed my inner rebel. I've always seen myself as a rule-follower, but when I thought about it... Go have a listen to episode 006 if you want to hear about my inner rebel. And about audiobook narration, of course.<br />
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You can find all The Rebel Author Podcast episodes <a href="https://pod.link/1479323930" target="_blank">HERE</a> or on your favourite podcast app.<br />
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If you'd rather read the transcript, you can find it <a href="https://wp.me/p885Ux-2a6" target="_blank">HERE</a><br />
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Sacha Black has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules. She also has the mind of a perpetual sixteen-year-old, only with slightly less drama and slightly more bills.<br /><br />Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing. She lives in Hertfordshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son.<br /><br />When she’s not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, blogging, sniffing musty old books, fangirling film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules.<div>
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Find out more about Sacha over on her website <a href="https://wp.me/p885Ux-2a6">HERE</a><br /><br /><br />
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-65501448256414168132019-10-07T10:00:00.000+11:002019-11-01T19:39:44.130+11:00Welcome to Fun-size Fiction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hey Everyone!<br />
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Welcome to Fun-size Fiction. Yes, I've launched a podcast for my flash fiction! Episodes will release weekly starting in November 2019. Each episode will be under five minutes.<br />
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Head on over to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcrxQoshWHb2L9zi9dNrzUw/" target="_blank">YouTube</a> or your favourite podcast app, search for FUN-SIZE FICTION (or CONOULTY - there aren't many of us around) and hit subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode.<br />
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The stories are fun-size, just like those yummy little chocolate bars, so you can treat your ears with tiny tales written and read by me. These flash fiction stories vary in genre but lean towards women’s fiction and romance.<br />
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<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5QcRyrUYN3rShVTR9cKqHg" target="_blank">Spotify</a> | <a href="https://anchor.fm/renee-conoulty" target="_blank">Anchor</a> | <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=479265&refid=stpr" target="_blank">Stitcher</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcrxQoshWHb2L9zi9dNrzUw/" target="_blank">YouTube</a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fun-size-fiction-short-stories-for-modern-women/id1481617188?uo=4" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a> | <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9kZDI2NmRjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz" target="_blank">Google Podcasts</a> | <a href="https://castbox.fm/va/2393860" target="_blank">Castbox</a></span><br />
<a href="https://www.breaker.audio/fun-size-fiction-short-stories-for-modern-women" target="_blank">Breaker</a> | <a href="https://overcast.fm/itunes1481617188/fun-size-fiction-short-stories-for-modern-women" target="_blank">Overcast</a> | <a href="https://pca.st/xuvgbgow" target="_blank">Pocket Casts</a> | <a href="https://radiopublic.com/funsize-fiction-short-stories-for-6N3xem" target="_blank">RadioPublic</a></div>
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-40527670887972450082019-10-02T16:00:00.000+10:002019-10-02T16:00:04.314+10:00Best Friends for Now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Hey Everyone!<br />
<br />
Today is the official relaunch of Best Friends for Now. I originally wrote Best Friends for Now as a project with my daughter for Duck Soup Press, which has since stopped operating. I asked for a rights reversion then had a whole lot of fun recording the audiobook and redesigning the cover.<br />
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To create the cover I had in mind, I had to learn how to edit vector files. My previous covers had all been photographic, so this was a big leap. YouTube tutorials combined with lots of trial and error helped me develop a new skill. I love learning new things. How cute is the new cover?<br />
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The idea for Best Friends for Now came within a couple of months of moving to Wagga Wagga. The relaunch is happening a few months before moving away, which seems fitting. The concept of Best Friends for Now is close to my heart and something I'm feeling strongly right now.<br />
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<a href="https://heysaidrenee.blogspot.com/p/best-friends-for-now.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="820" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-c0p2n9lAhtrs0S3-vr0iMouAVs9RypOrblNpjztIqeeIqCX6ckZnfw84JDnAwBk0iTTVqLt5yXj3CUQYwn-MiUonBtUDuXEOCi8zj06_oA4eEL829t5WFVVGvInKDItyLwZRavQ-e6w/s640/sliders+%25281%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Everyone has heard of BFF's - Best Friends Forever - but that's something I've had to let go of as our family moves from town to town for my husband's military career. We bought a house last year but it can't be our forever home. That best friend connection doesn't last forever, either. Facebook and phonecalls can help you stay in touch but the close connection developed through regular physical contact fades when you no longer see each other. That's something I've had to accept for myself and teach to my children. Just because you may not stay best friends forever doesn't mean you can't be best friends for now. Friends for a reason and friends for a season are still friends and definitely worth having.<br />
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If you want to share this concept with a child in your life, grab a copy of Best Friends for Now.<br />
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Available in </div>
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<a href="http://books2read.com/bestfriends" target="_blank">ebook</a> | <a href="https://amzn.to/2lbbrcL" target="_blank">paperback</a> | <a href="https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Renee_Conoulty_Best_Friends_for_Now?id=AQAAAECsAg5CsM&hl=en" target="_blank">audiobook</a></div>
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-66082813167294326032019-09-26T11:05:00.000+10:002019-11-26T23:23:01.778+11:00Self Editing for Authors with ProWritingAid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/Purchase?afid=7070&vc=6071ONQUMQ"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1000" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQUAI90sCrwjL3-FoEmxSqmxOvZ1YZ2CmKD19pwuGJZs6Nl6PSto9rbb-LAlOFK2-5utv9tsJzvuXoZO7IAfU9uagIdUeT-R-4V0vECYAEq-gbO5RAPFKIftsYBCwxJ_UlLlqpJAxoDg/s640/million-users-ad_7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Hey Everyone!<br />
<br />
I recently bought a lifetime subscription to <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=7070&vc=6071ONQUMQ" target="_blank">ProWritingAid</a> and it was the best thing I've done for my author career in ages! I loved it so much that I joined their affiliate program so that I could offer you all a 20% discount. Follow any of my links to ProWritingAid and the discount will be applied automatically.<br />
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I have more time than money to invest into my author career, so I take great care when making purchases. This is the second time I've spent over $100 on something. The first time was to buy my microphone (my audiobook sales have since paid that off).<br />
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While I'm in the bootstrapping phase of my author career, I plan to manage my editing between beta readers, ARC readers, reading aloud while narrating and some awesome software.<br />
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I've been using the free version of Grammarly for ages and it's been great but I was looking for something with a bit more scope. I wanted something free or something I could pay for once then use forever. The premium version of Grammary looked awesome but the annual fee was a little daunting. They didn't offer a lifetime subscription option.<br />
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I played with the free online <a href="http://www.hemingwayapp.com/" target="_blank">Hemingway Editor</a>. It was a cool way to see an overview of your style but it messed with my formatting when I pasted the edited text back in my document.<br />
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I edit in Word so I tried out a couple of free plugins - Consistency Checker and Pro Cliche Finder. I loved them both, but they weren't quite enough. Consistency Checker is made by Intelligent Editing and they also have great editing software called <a href="https://intelligentediting.com/pricing/" target="_blank">Perfect It</a> but again, a high subscription price and no lifetime option. $70 doesn't sound too bad but when you convert it to Aussie dollars and add up year after year after year, it stretched my budget.<br />
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I came across ProWritingAid and tried it out for free online. The <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/Analysis/WebEditor/Go?redirectToDocs=true?afid=7070" target="_blank">free web editor</a> was awesome but it could only process 500 words at a time. I considered chopping up my manuscript into 500-word blocks to save some money, but although I have more time than money, my time is still too valuable to waste like that.<br />
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I downloaded the <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/Office?afid=7070&vc=6071ONQUMQ" target="_blank">Word plugin</a> and signed up for a free trial. Wow! It did all the things the other programs offered, combined, plus more. My favourite extra was the House Style button. You can customise patterns for it to search for. I've added things like "t shirt" so I can replace it with "t-shirt" as that's what I've decided to use to keep my books consistent. It's great for tracking spelling of character names between books within a series, too. Please tell me I'm not the only writer who forgets how she decided to spell her characters' names.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The echoes check is handy for picking up close repeats.</span></td></tr>
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I jumped in and bought the lifetime subscription before the trial even ended. I did consider signing up for a month at a time, then cancelling and re-subscribing every time I had a book to edit (my mind can find the cheapest way to do anything) but the convenience of checking anything at any time won out.<br />
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The software isn't perfect, you'll still need to check each of the suggestions, but it's a great way to work through a line edit and proofread step by step. Try the summary first to get an overall view of your strengths and weaknesses then run the individual checks to learn how to improve your writing. Once you've done that a few times, you'll get a good feel for which checks you need and which ones you can skip and you can set up a combination check to run all your favourites with one click (and you can set the language in case you have favorites instead of favourites).<br />
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It costs nothing to give it a try. If you write/edit in <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/GoogleDocs?afid=7070&vc=6071ONQUMQ" target="_blank">Word or Google Docs</a> there's a plugin for you. If you use Scrivener, the <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/Desktop?afid=7070&vc=6071ONQUMQ" target="_blank">Desktop Application</a> will be your best choice. If you make typos all over the internet (like me) the <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/ChromeExtension?afid=7070&vc=6071ONQUMQ" target="_blank">Chrome Extension</a> might help you out.<br />
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You can try out the basic functions in the text box below. The full version is available via <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/Purchase?afid=7070&vc=6071ONQUMQ" target="_blank">monthly, annual or lifetime subscription</a>.<br />
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I've used affiliate links in this post and if you follow <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/en/App/Purchase?afid=7070&vc=6071ONQUMQ" target="_blank">THIS LINK</a> you will get 20% off ProWriting Aid!</div>
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<form action="https://prowritingaid.com/en/affiliate/LandingAnalyse" method="post">
<textarea cols="40" data-gramm="false" id="editor" name="text" pwa-fake-editor="" row="5" spellcheck="false" style="height: 100px;">Enter some text and click button below to see improvements. (Make some some erors like this ones to sea how it worx.)</textarea><input name="afid" type="hidden" value="7070" /><br />
<button class="pwa-button" onclick="backdrop.classList.add('visible'); spinner.classList.add('start');" style="background-color: #f8a551; border-radius: 4px; border: 1px solid transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 10px 20px;" type="submit">Check Text</button><br />
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-24047821114879636702019-09-12T10:00:00.000+10:002019-09-12T10:00:10.289+10:00Canva for Authors<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3hcNXyRXh_XxyrLcOyR93cG1U0DT9ohM7FHteE316jAtW5EyvcZlj-27c_w5Ih8OgeKZF3SU9YPHEwgfM1hpiV-ERkhkgD9nMBdGtSpJ6J-7w8VntH10dZeKMS5-MuUSIgxX0u6Fjk8/s400/Renee.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Hey Everyone!<br />
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My name is Renee and I love <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">Canva</a>. I use it to design my ebook, audiobook and paperback covers. It's simple, intuitive and fun.<br />
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My first book cover was for a sweet contemporary romance short story. I found a stock photo I liked on another website and uploaded it to <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">Canva</a>. I flipped the image, applied a filter then added some text.<br />
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<a href="http://books2read.com/onix" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1003" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLq0ky3G6py80qrj3HzJRsAimMWSEEbgFzHYoq-xEssVpoS1jGrcWY068F1lKpbGfJ9wfxFnLYF0kJoHHzxwr7Ln1exlkTR7MCWoJrfk9ERwMmDcnVjgZGaX2ciM7YbOCbXM4rpUFnso/s200/Catching+Onix.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Catching-Onix-Audiobook/B079QCNLMJ/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-114539&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_114539_rh_us" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiO3sXnBSQzZqIxk8b4re_8COh2c3DW0o8iCKuK5MBKoTn95HLwk4364EF_lhSkPZYEaFMR_4_rN5eFhEBBe1TjK0BQFSdFdn6UqNl9G_Igp0g3rR6nVIUa8dzBSB5WLc0AHA9dmMAb_M/s200/Catching+Onix+Audio+cover.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<td width="33%"><a href="http://books2read.com/onix" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1182" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIzwt9gvIxyIG1XGOxzguJvyTDmd8Z1fkAW4ydtKi_fGeRNp6Ga_43zvJB05uJhhUkkyxPN10WsVVwNgokEJMoR4BceWWE-IlSUFs1RB1MpPhoVvZfYpROhAYekyLNhwE_oeYmJCuSvM/s200/Onix+paperback.png" width="200" /></a></td>
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If you'd rather leave your covers to a professional designer, then you can still use <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">Canva</a> to create your own promo graphics for your website, email, ads and/or social media. If you have access to the original image used on your cover, you can use that as a background for the graphic. I tweaked the transparency on the background image, used a review quote for text and popped the audiobook cover in the corner.</div>
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<a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Catching-Onix-Audiobook/B079QCNLMJ/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-114539&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_114539_rh_us" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_1HGxc-I_1dl_EoJN7j8sprdo-AFmoFz_OoVDHYZClS1Yqg-2WJ8KPKpJzhwQvHUTgbrvYqcs5bDgyyGMwky-lPFzZPpnkXOdYjuqX0Rz1I-ma7AU3B4JkK6GvFXCNANyY1f024Knmg/s320/I+would+recommend+this+to+anyone+who+likes+short+and+Quirky+stories+with+well-defined+characters..png" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you don't have the original image, there are heaps of stock photos and background images within Canva that you can use. </div>
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<a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Swinging-Through-Life-Audiobook/B07NGW8SML/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-114539&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_114539_rh_us" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Y8EyMxx55JEi7dfE9O4brhOfg-CyCklxveyDIfg7gkO-OA7gqbMbqErFRm1DyF3ZAc5qaXeR2j0cH-AkNnRG64gm1JTA2cbJ1CDAZXNIQuoSnXEXA-3PD6JuThRJSPIkYDJBdM8uIiA/s320/Untitled+design+%252817%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I used <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">Canva</a> to make a graphic for the cover reveal for my latest release (the cover was also designed in Canva in a similar process to above). I found the easel graphic on another stock photo site then used a brush stroke frame in Canva to add the cover image. Lots of fun.</div>
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<a href="http://books2read.com/heartswings" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Je_-uteKC8g7924FbCx4tsZxAHyXHwHmVXhXGPViWvDc1dmqqmIfGpxhDnEDPN_-6uGdOjFyqI9mjzjqJ-fWVLmrKGZSiTwZ9bSTnJS9lp4dgmZGxH0ZIxuYCJ27pySaC6TaJNHrQZM/s320/coming+soon+%25281%2529.png" width="180" /></a></div>
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I used <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">Canva</a> to design the interior pages for my non-fiction Character Voices workbook and downloaded them as a PDF.<br />
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<a href="https://amzn.to/2Lrpsxy" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKx8TeMkZxPRNf-Hnl6NXlehygDn9Bv_Xz2RiKddtGQLSWdx8fst9WuL__rF5iqdQc11w2U0gjfxBZ53lwVudrJQ5c9EENSlIsPk5Imd1Z68fp8HhLDJ9pOnAYItPqqj5FKWZSdLYwwCc/s320/Character+Voices+body+.png" width="213" /></a></div>
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All the designs above are possible with the <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">free version</a> of Canva but the <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">paid version</a> provides much more flexibility. More images are unlocked along with the ability to resize a design with one click (instead of recreating it from scratch for each size, like I did with that first cover). You can <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">trial the pro version for free for 30 days.</a></div>
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Canva isn't a substitute for Photoshop - you can't edit images to that level but then it also doesn't have that sort of learning curve. If you can drag and drop, you can use <a href="https://canva.pxf.io/dJPm7" target="_blank">Canva</a>.</div>
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Not sure what to design? Keep an eye out on social media for promo graphics and ads that appeal to you, screenshot them, then see if you can recreate something similar with your own books.</div>
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-6224453456749099902019-08-22T09:30:00.000+10:002019-09-06T17:20:23.791+10:00Heart Swings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hey Everyone!<br />
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Heart Swings is a story very close to my own heart. It was inspired by my own destination wedding in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I'd love to share some photos with you.<br />
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Just like Todd and Nicola, we started our wedding morning in the dark at the markets, buying food and gifts for the monks.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8TsJbbOkenlOxBtC-9VG76HIFv_qtXlWh3VqY-99lvdniIh4BwhYxVaDN3M_oyWx69nIkm3rv2NvT9weZdaZhx7yzqSl0w-UHitUDVOicqMGijrykeFN0ALotfGsyrVex3myWTZjOe8/s1600/Our+Wedding+00047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8TsJbbOkenlOxBtC-9VG76HIFv_qtXlWh3VqY-99lvdniIh4BwhYxVaDN3M_oyWx69nIkm3rv2NvT9weZdaZhx7yzqSl0w-UHitUDVOicqMGijrykeFN0ALotfGsyrVex3myWTZjOe8/s320/Our+Wedding+00047.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The monks blessed us. According to Thai Buddhist tradition, monks can't touch women so I rested my hand on Luke's and he placed the food in the monk's bowl.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZNNOcuIkdDu4xQbSrQUfpXkOkM1WBBv10w4xm-uJfhyWyHBaWMIex5ELuf3Aa8zclu5cgdLFqQO8PB0am8X2wsCBfYyZpbwZKbJ5GWj8I_mvOVMWksi_ipt9typ_dc7IrjI015yTK8hA/s1600/Our+Wedding+00090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZNNOcuIkdDu4xQbSrQUfpXkOkM1WBBv10w4xm-uJfhyWyHBaWMIex5ELuf3Aa8zclu5cgdLFqQO8PB0am8X2wsCBfYyZpbwZKbJ5GWj8I_mvOVMWksi_ipt9typ_dc7IrjI015yTK8hA/s320/Our+Wedding+00090.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
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Yes, we had a wedding minivan. I thought it was as hilarious as Brooke did.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DHrwq11V1u0JO6RhdexFga73Uln1w1iWfclD8RWccBb_LONamNgzDrqmH3WiFiTwg8R1yO817YDH-090F3kIR2fGlO3BpWnCySwFDtWR5-bJew9zWFndeJGkM_AQvNep__saiSmQ_Dg/s1600/Our+Wedding+00165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DHrwq11V1u0JO6RhdexFga73Uln1w1iWfclD8RWccBb_LONamNgzDrqmH3WiFiTwg8R1yO817YDH-090F3kIR2fGlO3BpWnCySwFDtWR5-bJew9zWFndeJGkM_AQvNep__saiSmQ_Dg/s320/Our+Wedding+00165.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
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The teak temples were beautiful.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaeoHOmZxnpKz2romtmkQ06F1h0kv21gLWworD3DdpIqN-2oDh49iefXNRqIzcmFfssAWDtSSGQKnWba14wmzv82kTqb07xIKi6bevXHJYXaWWb0SYpkY6vVD7khWCurb1AIlrLo4kfAU/s1600/Our+Wedding+00197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaeoHOmZxnpKz2romtmkQ06F1h0kv21gLWworD3DdpIqN-2oDh49iefXNRqIzcmFfssAWDtSSGQKnWba14wmzv82kTqb07xIKi6bevXHJYXaWWb0SYpkY6vVD7khWCurb1AIlrLo4kfAU/s320/Our+Wedding+00197.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The head monk used a stick to place the buddha necklace over my head. He also flicked lots of water around and said a whole bunch of stuff I didn't understand. Luckily, the real Jit sat next to me and translated most of it. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8uTIEP3WCb04JYqKCCOMNMOuCLZmt0ikt0muSXJGw2r3L2UeAx5QTYM7ih__B1uhBqH6TwmU7l0_lm55_rKef53fTUUOqcKTLujOTdNrkb_5Sm5HpsWi4Nvw9AEmMtR2SWQC1pVQGYA/s1600/Our+Wedding+00234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8uTIEP3WCb04JYqKCCOMNMOuCLZmt0ikt0muSXJGw2r3L2UeAx5QTYM7ih__B1uhBqH6TwmU7l0_lm55_rKef53fTUUOqcKTLujOTdNrkb_5Sm5HpsWi4Nvw9AEmMtR2SWQC1pVQGYA/s320/Our+Wedding+00234.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here we are letting birds free outside the teak temple. We also let catfish free into the river. The blessing ceremonies were beautiful.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgch36YVRCwMGjOYgkF2oAe6JHUUi6EWg5LQ5qdoEGogOBs-i4uNOrNZWgedpgh2JHgzjwdE60wmpNUqQsbFah1jJx4UEm_L_xOvfkO3jCkSUTt13DVAdvxh4nPLMznxYxx-mIfCqA4OZQ/s1600/Our+Wedding+00260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgch36YVRCwMGjOYgkF2oAe6JHUUi6EWg5LQ5qdoEGogOBs-i4uNOrNZWgedpgh2JHgzjwdE60wmpNUqQsbFah1jJx4UEm_L_xOvfkO3jCkSUTt13DVAdvxh4nPLMznxYxx-mIfCqA4OZQ/s320/Our+Wedding+00260.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here are my wedding guests wearing traditional Thai dress.</div>
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I didn't walk down the aisle, my husband did. The procession came all the way along a path to the house where another ceremony was held.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylmB8pTFuNnVxKxKk7jXs7-O-wt2hdb-cja5bDYM48gLVFrX2CbDaecy7zn_DzqxZ2AtYT3ukt6eLFDv2Y4786zMiS6ps6wN0j8KjqIdx3YUtdG6BEGVFl_qJriZnTzwYFet0VLG4cj8/s1600/Our+Wedding+00342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylmB8pTFuNnVxKxKk7jXs7-O-wt2hdb-cja5bDYM48gLVFrX2CbDaecy7zn_DzqxZ2AtYT3ukt6eLFDv2Y4786zMiS6ps6wN0j8KjqIdx3YUtdG6BEGVFl_qJriZnTzwYFet0VLG4cj8/s320/Our+Wedding+00342.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We all sat on the floor and ate with our hands for the wedding reception. The local village elders are gathered in the background. The woman in the centre wearing red is<a href="http://thailandweddingguru.com/item/thailand-weddings-chiang-mai-wedding-planner/" target="_blank"> Jit, the wedding coordinator</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxXu4wBclNrgE7wZFp71ozZCyOVeENUUmda9XJ_yB1pJZpT5UK_wms108iNds84CKjvLsxvCHq5qHULc03kn37T9ttuKYurZF8kwayPYBFR75yQohHPtWj_VicGtcUZZfOPiAXiaquzo/s1600/Our+Wedding+00496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxXu4wBclNrgE7wZFp71ozZCyOVeENUUmda9XJ_yB1pJZpT5UK_wms108iNds84CKjvLsxvCHq5qHULc03kn37T9ttuKYurZF8kwayPYBFR75yQohHPtWj_VicGtcUZZfOPiAXiaquzo/s320/Our+Wedding+00496.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We actually had fireworks!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTiDTYnDC1Aj_Qlw5u0k9hvaPBEqlz51A0Ejnu1ucYOw300S4cB8ARtcBsuk_M6Fsv8clmmD-RLUlbj_Pxzv_xoi5WpCSnnHC3FHX7W4QnMECsFuRgoLaoZPBBlGvqs7N0s50C9iHQsxo/s1600/Our+Wedding+00549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTiDTYnDC1Aj_Qlw5u0k9hvaPBEqlz51A0Ejnu1ucYOw300S4cB8ARtcBsuk_M6Fsv8clmmD-RLUlbj_Pxzv_xoi5WpCSnnHC3FHX7W4QnMECsFuRgoLaoZPBBlGvqs7N0s50C9iHQsxo/s320/Our+Wedding+00549.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I choreographed a swing dance for our first dance since my Luke and I met at a swing dance class.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwBmaOBIZyVWAYrd7jkK4ddD3fwop6C8T-7XzmNR8HJGsgkiQdiutYWkZuu2ZiqpCEH5PL44h_hlMe3D6n2DMyoY7tVXDuy19D8HnvmvtnoscxUXONxxfMgwlrl8itRa6MTIzIXQW66o/s1600/Our+Wedding+00671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwBmaOBIZyVWAYrd7jkK4ddD3fwop6C8T-7XzmNR8HJGsgkiQdiutYWkZuu2ZiqpCEH5PL44h_hlMe3D6n2DMyoY7tVXDuy19D8HnvmvtnoscxUXONxxfMgwlrl8itRa6MTIzIXQW66o/s320/Our+Wedding+00671.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We went trekking through the hill tribes as part of our honeymoon.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXhWxMfo6_yLZ3N-jaVkTjM6YELqjiZ_BA3VjJwtvtDDKWlVAIzZ4ESPto3AXg4Dr3dLUYiS9jfOAhqQaQUQJ9e8yEuctENaoTL6Phw5U4d0KJqddAiIpY6YocNK21tqKP5LpSD40G9M/s1600/Renee%2527s+phone+277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXhWxMfo6_yLZ3N-jaVkTjM6YELqjiZ_BA3VjJwtvtDDKWlVAIzZ4ESPto3AXg4Dr3dLUYiS9jfOAhqQaQUQJ9e8yEuctENaoTL6Phw5U4d0KJqddAiIpY6YocNK21tqKP5LpSD40G9M/s320/Renee%2527s+phone+277.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Not the typical honeymoon accommodation, but we had the curtain between us taken down so we could sleep next to each other.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuQpWyDcHy6FCE9r_l5xN1cW3-twFSQOj1C8W9yyhDILRvL9gvY8JUwmNPcN_HcDhUB_JdRf5cSnXzaGCzBamJ7E5WtHVLAWERkgR4-Ae6wKJevOUNxdpDqZYYi8-xJreB1rt-sHVCn4/s1600/Renee%2527s+phone+278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwuQpWyDcHy6FCE9r_l5xN1cW3-twFSQOj1C8W9yyhDILRvL9gvY8JUwmNPcN_HcDhUB_JdRf5cSnXzaGCzBamJ7E5WtHVLAWERkgR4-Ae6wKJevOUNxdpDqZYYi8-xJreB1rt-sHVCn4/s320/Renee%2527s+phone+278.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Those Thai kids were adorable and I may have gotten suckered in to buy a few beaded bracelets, just like Brooke.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaByB8AZiK3rR028Wj2Ras31ij90hZGoXouI0w-OI82mjZfKP1skr9nAl2mbr8OEXSpbMexS6ow9CpsqHP9CkTWrU70YXnTCwB7YHRkn3y0PULNh_sir-jboRX68-cznM2F0zJKDTOMFE/s1600/Renee%2527s+phone+281.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaByB8AZiK3rR028Wj2Ras31ij90hZGoXouI0w-OI82mjZfKP1skr9nAl2mbr8OEXSpbMexS6ow9CpsqHP9CkTWrU70YXnTCwB7YHRkn3y0PULNh_sir-jboRX68-cznM2F0zJKDTOMFE/s320/Renee%2527s+phone+281.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Now there's some eco-friendly lunch packaging. Yep, ate with our fingers, while looking at a gorgeous waterfall.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqay3_TSb9K_qq7zo4veT4QffqucitQOWtmwBjbnhVbGODVv-QpT_NE2XgW4WqdIlS6DzCT9xgdhFActQAA7MShHA6y8ZDWO6c3ovKP4r_ehApJwgSETC_JLpa9qPSKBbEBrOvaCoO7Y/s1600/Renee%2527s+phone+302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqay3_TSb9K_qq7zo4veT4QffqucitQOWtmwBjbnhVbGODVv-QpT_NE2XgW4WqdIlS6DzCT9xgdhFActQAA7MShHA6y8ZDWO6c3ovKP4r_ehApJwgSETC_JLpa9qPSKBbEBrOvaCoO7Y/s320/Renee%2527s+phone+302.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This is me crossing one of those lashed-together bamboo bridges. Don't look down!</div>
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Haven't read Heart Swings, yet?</div>
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Inspired?</div>
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-63261351460918633242019-05-01T10:51:00.000+10:002019-09-06T17:21:03.097+10:00Every Day in May<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkdW9rJCiM1lwTA5MkZgnXT9pL5oESQT-m2RpSjDr5xUJj3IxBf4D91h4B47VNmvJNlXy1BeWkXkr_5Dkl0i0S_kxoEL_3x1TAaq0iNBxCmQb6cb7d5SzBqWp4PoKkBtfW5vAhyphenhyphenysoZw/s1600/Everyday.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkdW9rJCiM1lwTA5MkZgnXT9pL5oESQT-m2RpSjDr5xUJj3IxBf4D91h4B47VNmvJNlXy1BeWkXkr_5Dkl0i0S_kxoEL_3x1TAaq0iNBxCmQb6cb7d5SzBqWp4PoKkBtfW5vAhyphenhyphenysoZw/s320/Everyday.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Hey Everyone!<br />
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Last month, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo. I focussed on word count, aiming to add another 10,000 words to my work in progress.<br />
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If I could write 333 words every day, I'd hit my goal. Most days, I wrote 300 to 500 words. Some days I wrote many more but other days I wrote nothing. I woke up on April 30 with 2,300 words left to reach my goal, and the horrible realisation that April only had 30 days, not 31.<br />
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In all the fiction writing I've done, my best day was 1,300 words. Could I beat that? Could I beat it by 1,000 words?<br />
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Challenge accepted.<br />
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I never found that state of flow I was searching for but little by little, the words added up. I dictated in the car on the school run. I wrote while eating lunch. I did a writing sprint with a friend. I snuck away from the dinner party I was hosting to hide in the bedroom and write. I sat up until midnight and I made it.<br />
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I feel inspired. I want to keep the momentum going but I don't want that much pressure hanging over me. After missing a few days of writing, I found it took longer to get back into the story. I had to read over what I'd written and think about what was to come.<br />
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This month, I'm challenging myself to write something every day. It could be 1,000 words. It could be one. As long as I add something to my story.<br />
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Will you join me?</div>
Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-49810910134792622692019-04-25T21:05:00.000+10:002019-09-06T17:22:00.975+10:00Sing Loud, Sing Proud<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hey Everyone,<br />
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I'm not what you'd classify as an 'early morning person'. Not even a 'late morning person'. Afternoons are more my thing. Or nights. But not too late. I like my sleep as well. </div>
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Today my alarm went off at 4.30am and I got out of bed without complaint. Okay, so maybe a little whinge. But I got up, got dressed and joined my fellow Australian Military Wives Choir friends to sing at the Anzac Day Dawn Service at RAAF Base Wagga (that's Royal Australian Air Force, if you're not all up on your Aussie military acronyms).</div>
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After the service, I was inspired to write the Anzac Day scene in my next novel and I'd like to share it with you now.<br />
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The novel has the working title Sing From Our Hearts and is a women's fiction story told from the points of view of three military spouses (including Megan, below) and set in Wagga. It's still a work in progress and this scene is a first draft.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pK9PGR5TU5O956X_6gZlatkoMKvC-SID8yX8ESD3lotfpk8rhH7Th1VbU2bY8fQnbah0u5GLCwFxUcfeyNSadwxVvNQDlazNBYHPja8_xBM5q1AKe8I_xZEJ-88lFgsMQDIXpZmVu_E/s1600/dawn+service.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_pK9PGR5TU5O956X_6gZlatkoMKvC-SID8yX8ESD3lotfpk8rhH7Th1VbU2bY8fQnbah0u5GLCwFxUcfeyNSadwxVvNQDlazNBYHPja8_xBM5q1AKe8I_xZEJ-88lFgsMQDIXpZmVu_E/s640/dawn+service.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Photo taken before dawn service at RAAF Base Wagga began April 25, 2019.<br />Choir microphones, Australian flag and cenotaph in the foreground. <br />Deis, paved path and large gum tree in the background.</span></td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Sing Loud, Sing Proud</h3>
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Megan followed a group of uniformed recruits along the dimly-lit path from the carpark back through the front gate. Her military spouse ID had come in handy this morning, allowing her to park on the base rather than near the local shops, the next street over.<br />
<br />
She accepted a copy of the order of service from the airman greeting the Anzac day dawn service attendees. The recruits turned left into the staging area while Megan continued up the path towards the RAAF Wagga Heritage Centre housed in the original front gate building.<br />
<br />
Angie waved from the back door of the small museum. Megan crossed the exit lane to join the rest of the choir members to warm up. Spotlights shone on various displays around the room. Maybe she'd come back another day and have a proper look.<br />
<br />
"I know this is a solemn occasion but make sure you smile while you're singing. Smiling will lift your soft palate and help you hit those high notes." Angie smiled encouragingly. "And think about landing on the notes rather than reaching for them. It might sound silly but mindset helps."<br />
<br />
It wasn't the high notes Megan was worried about. It was all those silhouettes gathered under the gum trees she'd passed earlier.<br />
<br />
Danielle wasn't here to support her. Her presence, along with the rest of the trainees, had been required at another service.<br />
<br />
Strangers were all she had. People she'd never met listening to her. The only consolation was they'd hardly be able to see her, dressed in black in the pre-dawn light.<br />
<br />
Her boots clicked on the paved path as Megan followed the other women past the deis to the microphones set up to the far side. The Australian flag hung at half-mast to their left and the bagpipe player stood solemnly behind them. Gathering in a semicircle around the two microphones, they waited for the service to start.<br />
<br />
Papers rustled in nervous hands, feet shuffled in the grass, magpies warbled their morning song and a lone kookaburra laughed from high above them. Megan's eyes adjusted to the dim light, though the crowd remained faceless.<br />
<br />
The service began. The catafalque party slow-marched past, close enough to touch, and took their places at the corners of the cenotaph, eyes downcast and rifles at rest.<br />
<br />
A prayer, a reading, an address, then it was time to sing. The women shuffled closer to the microphone as the Australian Military Wives Choir were introduced.<br />
<br />
The knot in Megan's stomach tightened. What was she doing? This whole thing seemed surreal. She'd never been to a church service before let alone a dawn service. She hated public speaking. But she'd run out of time to panic.<br />
<br />
The last four bars of the now-familiar hymn boomed through the large speakers as an introduction. The opening note swelled inside her and Megan's voice blended seamlessly with the other women.<br />
<br />
"Abide with me, fast falls the eventide."<br />
<br />
She glanced down at her torch-lit order of service, double checking the words for the next line.<br />
<br />
"The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide."<br />
<br />
Megan's senses sharpened as she became fully present in the moment. The subtle lightening of the sky as the sun neared the horizon chasing away her fear.<br />
<br />
"When other helpers fail and comforts flee."<br />
<br />
The knot in her stomach unravelled.<br />
<br />
"Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me."<br />
<br />
The final verse ended, the sound echoing for a moment. Megan couldn't keep the grin from her face. Her whole body hummed.<br />
<br />
She glanced behind her as the piper began to play. She'd always thought bagpipes sounded like a cat in considerable pain but this was something else. The high reedy sound combined with the deeper droning bass sent a shiver down her spine. She turned back to face the cenotaph and watched as wreaths of colourful flowers and sprigs of rosemary were laid at its base.<br />
<br />
Her voice joined with those of the crowd as they responded to the ode. "We will remember them. Lest we forget."<br />
<br />
The haunting notes of the last post filled the air. Megan's mind wandered to the shores of Gallipoli. The sacrifices made so that she could be here, in this moment, in this life.<br />
<br />
A babies cry broke the minute of silence, a reminder of why the war was fought rather than an interruption.<br />
<br />
The bugle began, again. Rousing her back into the present. A cue to prepare for the next song.<br />
<br />
The Australian National Anthem. The warmth of pride filled her as she sang, loud and proud.<br />
<br />
She sang from her heart.<br />
<br />
She sang for her heart.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Qr5pSb2OkqT3ejiUb134CV00s11ReDjLL4je65ihABm4iPjMJLZdb_YlEc_C5qp3q0l5ush6lALrpjKMl47RTTkhEfph_49aTH4BRSFqnieIZSIk1GzvUzMQqjBehBmFt7JIDE0gVrQ/s1600/choir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="1600" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Qr5pSb2OkqT3ejiUb134CV00s11ReDjLL4je65ihABm4iPjMJLZdb_YlEc_C5qp3q0l5ush6lALrpjKMl47RTTkhEfph_49aTH4BRSFqnieIZSIk1GzvUzMQqjBehBmFt7JIDE0gVrQ/s640/choir.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The representatives of the Wagga branch of the Australian Military Wives Choir who were available to sing at the dawn service on Anzac day 2019<br />Left to right: Bec (the choir director), Angie (whose name I stole for my story), Me and Emma (who I'll be sure to work into a future story...)<br />We sang loud and proud today - thanks ladies</span></td></tr>
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</div>
Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-70162758478752454502019-04-16T16:23:00.000+10:002020-06-17T19:57:43.462+10:00Collections<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Single author and multi-author collections</h2>
<h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Swinging Through Life</h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "josefin sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">The dance of life – one step forward, one step back.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "josefin sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">Whether they lead or follow, the characters from these twelve tiny tales will dance through your heart. Will innocent Dulcie be caught in a seedy speakeasy? Can ambitious Kate get the attention she desires? Does swing dancing always lead to romancing?</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "josefin sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">If you like stories you can read before your coffee goes cold, you'll love this flash fiction collection. Grab your copy of Swinging Through Life and jazz up your reading list today.</span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Wife, Mother, Woman</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijblJoZZJhWaXpE8qYVedfGoEpc3RHtR2swqVZgQ6RLeRn9iZ8DuDCMT1Pb0t7DF9-MIs5AW3Fju4yJ6lJh0gRGjl7yLj7gdr7mGNwDplQwJh2T2LVZQm5yzeU_nhX509mXKMH3U3xRyU/s1600/WMWebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1003" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijblJoZZJhWaXpE8qYVedfGoEpc3RHtR2swqVZgQ6RLeRn9iZ8DuDCMT1Pb0t7DF9-MIs5AW3Fju4yJ6lJh0gRGjl7yLj7gdr7mGNwDplQwJh2T2LVZQm5yzeU_nhX509mXKMH3U3xRyU/s320/WMWebook.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Wife, Mother, Woman by Renee Conoulty</b></div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;" />
<i style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">The daily battles of military life.</i><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "josefin sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">Peek inside the lives of ten military-affiliated women. Whether they serve the military or support those who do, they all face relatable problems. Making new friends, finding new jobs, solo parenting. Being wives, being mothers, being women.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "josefin sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">If you like stories of strong women then you'll love Renee Conoulty's flash fiction collection.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "Josefin Sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: "josefin sans"; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">Grab your copy of Wife, Mother, Woman and dive into these tiny tales that will make you laugh and make you cry.</span><br />
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-55320691321061443412019-04-16T16:13:00.000+10:002020-06-17T19:47:15.711+10:00Sweet Romance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<h2>
Standalone sweet romance stories</h2>
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<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Heart Swings</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYLKqTlO494EUJ47vcpckfJF221s7ygZ8VsxdMcTOZU9JXdMaQEnVBq_Gz1R6ShJ-i9bYfWPcx7XrYyn9sXbZjS9wKoVyKyDqgfoTw31VWzjPlmZbDnSRTMVphqq2mV_QhkFerhnAKVtM/s1600/Heart+Swings+ebook+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1003" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYLKqTlO494EUJ47vcpckfJF221s7ygZ8VsxdMcTOZU9JXdMaQEnVBq_Gz1R6ShJ-i9bYfWPcx7XrYyn9sXbZjS9wKoVyKyDqgfoTw31VWzjPlmZbDnSRTMVphqq2mV_QhkFerhnAKVtM/s320/Heart+Swings+ebook+%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #575757; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Family duty or follow your heart?</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brooke's drifting along in her small-town life but now it's time to make a choice. Her family business or a city career?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ryan has swept in to save his family business in small-town Heart Springs but is counting down the days until he can get back to his real life in the city.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When Brooke and Ryan repeatedly cross paths at a wedding in Thailand, a mutual attraction develops. Will this simply be a holiday fling or could it lead to more?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you like enemies to lovers and exotic locations, you'll love Renee Conoulty's sweet romance novelette.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px;" /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Heart Swings to send your heart swinging, today.</span><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Catching Onix</h3>
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<b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Catching Onix by Renee Conoulty</b><br />
<br />
<i style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Are all strangers dangerous?</i><br />
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Grace is a single mother whose life revolves around her eight-year-old son, Finn. All she wants is to keep him safe and happy. She indulges his latest passion for playing Pokémon Go, stepping out of her comfort zone and into the local community. To Grace's horror, Finn strikes up a conversation with Jackson, the stranger who seems to be stalking them. Grace's instinct is to run but will she let herself be caught?<br />
<br />
If you like feel-good romantic comedy then you'll love Renee Conoulty's sweet short story.<br />
<br />
Download Catching Onix now and let Grace, Finn and Jackson catch your heart.<br />
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2892618894913025642.post-40710630116638207862019-04-16T14:08:00.001+10:002023-08-20T10:39:03.812+10:00For Authors<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Narrated by the Author</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1_iLTACz8KE3PNXLY0kjtaXE-iY87Uj8-e7obUm_dGbIMkcOLrt8z5_AQ_Ww0S8U4gR-Ohovkj8xz8w76dgk7GCXivsj-3DrDPvPeRS62ZgpRwoS-lQOvOemR1Rme7CW4rqh0tRJ_vg/s1600/Narrated+icon+%25281%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1003" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC1_iLTACz8KE3PNXLY0kjtaXE-iY87Uj8-e7obUm_dGbIMkcOLrt8z5_AQ_Ww0S8U4gR-Ohovkj8xz8w76dgk7GCXivsj-3DrDPvPeRS62ZgpRwoS-lQOvOemR1Rme7CW4rqh0tRJ_vg/s320/Narrated+icon+%25281%2529.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<br />
Do you want to be part of the growing audiobook industry? <br />
<br />
Are you an indie author looking to expand your readership? <br />
<br />
Learn how to narrate and produce your own professional quality audiobook within a budget.<br />
<br />
I won’t bore you with a list of my expert qualifications because I don’t have any. I’m not a tech wiz. I’m not an actor. I’m an average person, just like you, and if I can do it, then so can you.<br />
<br />
In this step-by-step beginner’s guide, you'll discover:<br />
⬩ The pros and cons of self-narrating<br />
⬩ Affordable equipment options<br />
⬩ Narration tips<br />
⬩ How to edit and master with free software<br />
⬩ Audiobook distribution options<br />
⬩ All the dumb things I did so you can learn from my mistakes<br />
⬩ And much, much more!<br />
<br />
If you like down-to-earth, budget-friendly advice with a touch of humour then you'll love Narrated by the Author.<br />
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<a href="http://books2read.com/narrated" target="_blank">ebook</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Narrated-by-Author-Renee-Conoulty/9781980582304/?a_aid=heysaidrenee" style="background-color: initial;" target="_blank">paperback</a> | <a href="http://books2read.com/narrated" target="_blank">a<span style="background-color: initial;">udiobook</span></a> | <a href="https://heysaidrenee.thinkific.com/courses/narrated-by-the-author" target="_blank">online course</a><br />
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Character Voices</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXUFcscDFRCKzOMuNgMtu7hupT5u5vf900KIy_2zkvMHG8rkH2AvE4JikUYCtQkWqKC4qL6LP05SrPfpxqQFR-O5EkM0E9zfqWSP7ww6ns3p56TWegUrRJRIEQqNYw9dkeGOSACI2ihI/s1600/Character+Voices+%25281%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1003" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXUFcscDFRCKzOMuNgMtu7hupT5u5vf900KIy_2zkvMHG8rkH2AvE4JikUYCtQkWqKC4qL6LP05SrPfpxqQFR-O5EkM0E9zfqWSP7ww6ns3p56TWegUrRJRIEQqNYw9dkeGOSACI2ihI/s320/Character+Voices+%25281%2529.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Want to narrate an audiobook but not sure how to keep track of all the characters? <br />
<br />
Audiobooks are the most rapidly growing section of the publishing industry and many indie authors are considering narrating their own audiobooks for financial or control reasons. Writing characters with individual voices is one thing but bringing them to life with your vocal skills is another. <br />
<br />
This workbook will bring your characters to life by helping you: <br />
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⬩ Choose and assign vocal characteristics <br />
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⬩ Keep track of these attributes <br />
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⬩ Prepare your manuscript for narration <br />
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⬩ Document your technical recording settings <br />
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⬩ Note down any other relevant information for the recording process <br />
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If you prefer a hands-on approach and like writing with pen and paper, then this workbook is for you. Grab your copy today to take the next step on your audiobook production journey.<br />
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*NOTE* ebook edition contains links to download unlimited editable and printable worksheets whereas the paperback edition contains multiple worksheets within the page count.<br />
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<a href="http://books2read.com/character" target="_blank">ebook</a> | <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Character-Voices-Renee-Conoulty/9781791645908/?a_aid=heysaidrenee" target="_blank">paperback</a></div>
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Renee Conoultyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04593128570648568912noreply@blogger.com