WHY MY BARAGULA SERIES? (Book Giveaway!)

Writers are often asked, “Where do you get your ideas from?”
There have been many times for most of my books I simply have to answer, “I really have no idea!”

Another question of course is, “why do you write series?” Usually I have to smile. The truth is that the only series I deliberately planned were my historical Heartsong Presents books that were later released by Barbour Publishing in the 4-in-1 volume called “Australian Outback.” Not even when I wrote my first Baragula book did I plan it as the first one of a series!

And actually, the Great Southland series kind of “happened” too. To start with, when the editor asked me about my writing an historical after several contemporary Heartsongs, I thought I would be smart and simple to use information from my own Pedler and Telfer Family Historical Association published books where all the research was already done for me. Then the editor told me, “but being an Australian historical we’d just have to have convicts, Mary.”

What he didn’t realise was that both sides of my family migrated from Scotland and England to South Australia in about 1838 and that was the only Australian state who never had a convict settlement! So I had to do heaps of research to find out what the convict situation was several years before then. I discovered very quickly I had a huge battle with the plot I thought up fitting in the under 55,000 words for Barbour’s inspirational romance book club. In the end, so many minor characters needed their own story told and the only way was to tell them in other books.

Because I had that problem of word length, for my next book I wondered if I could write a much longer book. And I do know where the “idea” for that first book came from! Several years before this our daughter graduated from Senior High School. In Australia that is the last year of schooling unless going on to university or into other tertiary education institutions. “Schoolies Week” has become famous for the thousands of teenager school leavers who descend on the Gold Coast beaches in southern Queensland.

Apparently most of the locals and law enforcement agencies do not look forward to what happens during those hectic, frantic partying days on their doorstep! I was thankful our daughter did not want to go. But my writer imagination kicked in. What if she, a young Christian had gone with some of her friends who did not share her standards? What if she had become caught up in the “Sun, Surf and Sin” there? What if. . .? What if. . .?

And so Return to Baragula was born. But when it was written – and revised and revised and revised – as happened in my Search series years before, other minor characters just had to have their stories told too in Outback From Baragula. I am really excited that I have just signed a contract for Book Three, Justice at Baragula, which will be released in April 2011.

So, as well as the first anniversary of our ICFW blog, I personally have much to celebrate and would love to giveaway a copy of Return to Baragula to someone who reads this blog post and leaves a comment here. Oh, and you can check out the video trailer for this book on my website -http://www.mary-hawkins.com/

WARNING: Unfortunately my Baragula books are no longer available in most shops overseas. This means you have to obtain a copy direct from my publisher or through my own website and we have to charge you postage on top of the price of the book. So, I am offering a Baragula book as a giveaway. Don’t miss your chance to win Return to Baragula at no cost to yourself.

To enter the draw, just leave a comment about book series you have enjoyed, ask a question or simply say you would like to win a copy - and don’t forget to leave your email address. The winner will be announced on Sunday, November 28.

"Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws."

Mary is a best-selling inspirational romance author. Her 19th title will be released in 2011. A Queensland farmer’s daughter, she became a registered nurse before going to Bible College. She and her minister husband have three adult children and five grandchildren, enjoyed nearly 46 years of ministry including church planting in Australia, two years in England, three short term mission trips to Africa and now live in Tasmania, Australia's island state.

Launching That Book

When my first book was released, it never entered my mind to have a book launch. Sure, the following year for the second book I did have a book signing at a local shop owned by a Rotarian friend. Seventeen titles later over the next ten years or so, I still never gave a thought to having a “Book Launch” for any of them. In fact, I had never been present at any other writer’s book launch either.

Then we moved to Tasmania and I became a member of the Society Women Writers Tasmania. One of our writers who met with us each month announced the launch of her book and so I attended my first book launch ever. When my eighteenth title, Return to Baragula was published in 2008, there was amazement when I confessed I’d never officially launched a book. So, with the encouragement and help of my SWWT friends, Mary had her first book launch, followed a year later by one for her second book in the series, Outback From Baragula.

I have been to other launches since then and in the last couple of months there have been two. The one last June was for a beautiful children’s book, Potato Music, by a local award winning author, Christina Booth. If you are interested in the fascinating story how this book came to be written, I did share about that on my own blog. Here I would like to tell you about the launch I went to a couple of evenings ago.

The author, Marilyn Quirk (url) had taken three years to research and write her non-fiction book, Tasmania. . .an island far away. She spent many, many hours searching for information, interviewing descendants to write the true stories of migrants of many different nationalities. At least these stories have been recorded for their descendants, for generations to come, but the difficulty she had in tracing public and personal historical records of all kinds and in all places was a wake-up call that these precious memories are so quickly being lost. It is an invaluable reminder to all Tasmanians, in fact all Australians, what caused men, women and children to leave their homelands. Both good and bad experiences in their own countries brought them here. Both good and bad things happened in this country while they tried to become part of a different culture with often a different language.

Right now, immigration and asylum seekers are hot topics here in Australia. With a Federal election now only four weeks away, it has become even more controversial as increasing numbers of smugglers try to reach our shores with boatloads of people hoping to find refuge and a new life here. Whereas in the past, migrants have come mainly from Europe and Asia, more recent refugees to Tasmania have come from Africa. Even though modern communication links us around the world so rapidly compared to centuries ago, this is still a new “Island Far Away” from all that was familiar – whether hated or loved. We need to all remember that with “strangers.”

Every book launch I have been privileged to attend here in Tasmania has been different – including my own – and I am wondering what other writers as well as readers think about book launches. Two launches, including my first one were held outdoors as part of a National Trust properties annual Fair. I’ve heard of one organised by a well known local doctor, farmer and then state politician who hired a hall, had about 500 people present, an orchestra etc, etc. The one this week had many descendants of migrants present, including the local city Mayor who launched the book. His own family had migrated from Holland after World War II.

From my own two launches, I realise it is important to plan one that will be particularly of interest to targeted readers of a particular kind of book. Mine are aimed at the Christian fiction market, so the last one as part of a local church’s Fair was far more successful!

I would love to hear from writers and especially readers about book launches they have been to or heard about. What worked? What didn’t?

And hopefully in days to come, I too will be able to put some of your hints into practice at another book launch!

Deadlines – hate them or love them?

I’ve written seventeen books for publishers – well. . .almost, counting this last effort that still needs much editing, revision and those final couple of very important pages. Now I am realising just how fortunate I’ve been to only have had two real deadlines in all that time.
Fortunate? Hmm. . . Now I am close to finishing this manuscript, I am not too sure and would love some comments – perhaps from other writers especially what their experiences have been with deadlines to have a manuscript finished by a set time.
First of all, let me clarify this. Sure, my editor at Harlequin Mills and Boon medical romances did need at least two manuscripts every year to keep my ‘author profile’ before the romance readership but in a sense I never had a set, fixed date – or deadline on a contract – to send her a new manuscript. I can only remember actually having one for the Heartsong Presents editor and that was the last book in my Great Southland historical series they planned to release over three consecutive months.

If you have had a peep at my website, you will have read that the same year I signed my first contract with HM&B I also signed with the Christian publisher, Barbour, in Ohio. Unfortunately, I soon discovered I had no time in our busy lives then to write for both lines. (Photo shows different covers for my five HM&B books)In fact, that requirement of HM&B was the main reason I had to decide eventually whether to continue writing for them or writing my first love, the inspirational romance novels for the Christian romance book club, Heartsong Presents. There was really no decision to make. Because I love Christ and the difference He can make in people’s live, I simply enjoy that extra freedom to include the spiritual journey of my characters too much!

My writing career has now taken me down a different path from those early, shorter Christian novels to these current, longer books almost double the wordage. But once again I am writing a series and discovered after returning from summer holidays over our Christmas, New Year period that this last manuscript was required by the publisher early March. With our overseas trip last year and so many other things besides the planning of it earlier and the actual five weeks away, there have been other numerous things happen to give me excuses to not keep writing this third book, Justice at Baragula. And now I am paying the price of that with this deadline!

It has been a rather exhausting time. To start with it was simply so hard to get back into the discipline of writing every day. I worked out how many words I would need to average each week, than broke it down to how many every day to meet the deadline. By the end of that first week I nearly decided I simply never had a hope of meeting that deadline. To start with, after such a long break from that first 20,000 plus words already written it was so very hard to get back into the heads of the main characters and their story. I’ve described it was almost as hard as pulling hen’s teeth! However, little by little their story began to grow as my thoughts became consumed with it again. I usually discover the last few chapters of a book are the ‘easiest’ to write. That does not necessarily apply to that last all important final page! (Perhaps that is why I’m procrastinating and writing this blog post right now?)

Spending so much time on the computer has meant tired and sore eyes some days and stiffness in parts of my anatomy. This means I’ve had to discipline myself not to spend much time on the internet – even reading blogs these last five and a bit weeks! Perhaps the hardest thing has been exercising that ‘no’ word to so many things. And why, oh why did the peaches on our trees have to be ripe right now? I am still hoping they will survive in the fridge until I get a chance to make some jam and chutney again this year. The house needs a good tidy and clean but a real blessing has been the support of my husband with meals, washing up and even laundry.

This week I am hoping to tackle those revisions and edits. Does the storyline flow okay? Is there enough conflict, suspense, excitement, drama in the right places? Have I used the same words and phrases too often? Is the dialogue real to the characters?

Not at all sure about actually loving a deadline but I am I wondering if I should at least like having one! At least it made me knuckle down and get right back into story-telling mode so this book is nearly written! Perhaps my personality needed the challenge?

Well, I know there are other ‘deadlines’ besides finishing a manuscript. I would love to read your thoughts and experiences on some of them

This is Mary’s second book in her new Baragula series. See the publisher website for details of where it is available: http://www.arkhousepress.com/

or buy an autographed copy from Mary – see her website for details http://www.mary-hawkins.com/

Outback from Baragula is expected to be released by a distributor in the US during 2010 The third in this series, Justice at Baragula will be released later in Australasia in 2010.