Author: Josephine Moon

Author. Speaker. Teacher. Editor. Manuscript Appraisals.

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The Creative Life Balancing Act

Bubbalicious 'helping' me
Bubbalicious ‘helping’ me

This is my library research assistant, the adorable Bubbalicious.

It’s often said that writing is a child-friendly career. True. But I’m not sure children are a writer-friendly addition 🙂

This is an interesting year for me as I work to find a new way of writing. A new timetable. A new head space. A totally new process. Listening to my body in a whole new way.

It’s taken me a long time to accept that I might need some help. But my Hubbalicious has been consistently working towards finding ways to support my career (and meet my next book deadline) while we maintain our wish to be hands-on, full-time parents. One thing we’ve realised is that I do need sustained, uninterrupted writing time. And that might mean I have to leave the house for a weekend every couple of months to get that. As well, I need at least three or four hours straight in a day to really get into my work.

So today is a new day. After much resistance (maternal angst, guilt, working-mother research assistant2_anxiety), I have embraced the addition of my lovely friend, Katrina, who lives locally and who has known Little Man his whole life. (And is also the greatest aunty to our dogs and cats when we’re away.) Everyone in this family loves Katrina. And today she’ll be joining us three days a week, for four hours a day, at home to help look after our Little Man and allow me some space to work. And I’m okay with that. Finally.

Really. Right now, I’m in my office while the sound of Katrina’s voice and squeaking toys from the other end of the house lets me know my bubba man is okay. Not just okay; he’s having fun. And that’s okay because I just need to remind myself to breathe and know there’ll be more times a plenty when I get to have my little research assistant back again.

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A Pot of Tea as Meditation Time

Tea for time out
Tea for time out

You know the drill: every day we’re told we should be exercising, eating five vegetables, meditating, taking vitamins, taking ‘time out’, ticking off our To Do list, strengthening social bonds, making time for our husbands, making time for our children (‘Don’t miss a single moment of these precious years!’), decluttering, detoxing, doing our pelvic floor exercises, investing sensibly, planning for holidays, working hard at our jobs, and getting at least eight hours of good quality sleep. Probably, most of us are lucky to achieve a couple of these things a day.

I used to be a meditator, back when I was single and childless and sharing a house with other people. I could lock myself away with a guided meditation CD, candles, incense and whole hours of time to devote to me. I enjoyed meditation, but I was also always a fan of moving meditation, those activities that can give you the same sense of peace, insights and altered time as more formal meditation. Riding my horse was always a huge moving meditation for me. Nothing like sitting on top of a half-tonne animal, clopping quietly down a street, listening to the birds and the rhythm of the squeak of a saddle in the sunshine to bring you firmly into the moment. Walking, yoga, gardening and swimming have also been sources of moving meditation.

And now, with an eight-month-old baby, renovating a house, writing a new book and all that jazz mothers do, I’ve become a fan of momentary meditation. Delightfully, I’ve realised more than ever that I can relish momentary meditation with a pot of tea.

Unlike throwing a teabag in a mug and covering with water, making a pot of tea takes just that tiny bit more time and thoughtfulness. You need a few extra bits, like a pot and a strainer. It takes a few moments more. You need to count out the scoops of tea for the pot (counting, also a form of mindfulness… or OCD depending on your personality). And then you need to pour it carefully into your (hopefully) lovely china cup.

It does take more time and a tiny bit more effort than the teabag option. But it’s a wonderful moment just to be present and breathe and relax. A teeny weeny meditation before returning to the chaos.

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Teacup Candles

I am just learning about Pinterest, and look at this gorgeous pic I found tonight! Love!!

If this is the sort of thing I find on Pinterest, I think I might have to join.

These teacups are apparently originally from http://www.marthastewart.com

Teacup candles by Martha Stewart
Teacup candles by Martha Stewart

 

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Roses in My Creative Life

Rose oil meringue, rose water cream, crystalised rose petals, and non-alcoholic wine with rose water and fresh mint leaves.
Rose oil meringue, rose water cream, crystalised rose petals, and non-alcoholic wine with rose water and fresh mint leaves.

Did you know that you can eat rose petals? I went a shamefully long time through life without knowing this or experimenting with the divine loveliness of this flower.

I studied aromatherapy some years ago, as part of a massage qualification. I had to complete a semester-long subject in aromatherapy. Like many people, I didn’t realise what aromatherapy was really all about. It’s name suggests it’s about smelling things. And that’s certainly a big part of it. But it should really be called something like ‘essential oil therapy’. It’s also sometimes now called ‘aromatic medicine’ or as part of ‘botanical medicine’ sitting alongside herbology and naturopathy.

So I walked into that first lecture thinking, gosh, what a waste of time! And I walked out a complete convert, and changed my qualification the very next day to specialise in this amazing healing science.

But I digress. Back to the roses.

Rose essential oil is a wonderous oil, exceptionally complex, with over three hundred chemical compounds, many of which are still unidentified. (Therefore, a synthetic version is not a complete version of rose oil.) It is fantastically healing for all sorts of emotional situations and physical ones too.

I’ve often used rose water (a byproduct of the distillation of rose petals) into cakes, icing and beverages. And this weekend just gone, I wanted to take that a step further and use the actual rose essential oil in baking, as well as rose water, and crystalise some rose petals too.

Although I’d made tea out of fresh rose petals from my garden (while I was writing The Tea Chest), until I made this rose meringue I’d never actually eaten rose petals. They are wonderful. The flavour is so much more intense than I imagined it would be because rose tea (from fresh petals) is actually very subtle. The full-bodied flowers are sensational! I highly recommend them.

(Note: You must not eat roses that have been sprayed with chemicals and that most likely rules out any you buy in the shop. Try farmers’ markets where you can get accurate information about the source of the roses, or do as I did and just take them from your garden!)

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Provence in Summer!

I’m going to France! Provence, to be specific. I’ll be going in the European summer, specifically so I can visit the flowering fields and distilleries of essential oils, all in the name of research for my next book. Squee! I’m pretty excited.

Lavender fields are one of my favourite places to hang out
Lavender fields are one of my favourite places to hang out

I do have a long history of lying down in lavender fields. Here’s a pic my sister snapped in a Tasmanian lavender farm back in 2004, when I was thinner, younger, and apparently wearing some sort of red striped PJs!

Provence
Provence

My lovely dad is chaperoning me to Provence and we’re planning our itinerary now. If you have any suggestion for fields, farms, flowers and distilleries (or better fashion sense), I’d love to hear them.

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Books as Prescription Medicine

This is precisely why I write books: to make people feel good.

Books like (legal) brownies for all!
Books like (legal) brownies for all!

I love this story.  From May this year, ‘Books on Prescription’ will begin in the UK, with doctors able to ‘prescribe’ a book to assist a patient and improve their mood. The books include both non-fiction and fiction, as well as poetry. It’s also hoped the scheme could help the struggling libraries. Win-win. How wonderful!

In the first couple of months after my baby was born, life was pretty insane in our house. Something I missed the most was reading and it was only when I began to learn how to get the reading time back into my life that I started to feel normal again. I always read before going to sleep, something that’s a very powerful mood producing activity for me. I literally feel stressed if I don’t have a good book nearby to delve into.

But it has to be the right kind of book. For me, there’s no point in reading something angst-ridden, violent, negative, sarcastic or miserable in order to feel better. Uplifting, comforting, engaging and fun–that’s what I want to read and that’s what I want to write.

My contemporary fiction novel, The Tea Chest, about three Australian women thrust together in a bid to sell tea to the English, will be out in 2014. And if you’re looking for something to make you feel good (a book that reads like a chocolate brownie tastes) then it might just be the book for you.

Read a book to feel better. Hooray!

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The Writer’s Retreat Wrap-Up

She works hard for the money… so hard for the money…

So this is how my writing retreat went:

Drinking tea and have a long soak in a clawfoot bath, all in the name of research
Drinking tea and have a long soak in a clawfoot bath, all in the name of research

Stayed in a gorgeous wee house, ‘Amelie’s Petite Maison’ at The Spotted Chook in Montville.

All alone for first time since my baby was born eight months ago… very weird but not totally unpleasant.

Had to extricate a huntsman spider out of my wee house ALL BY MYSELF!! For the record, I don’t DO spiders. My husband does the spiders and snakes; I do the rodents. Such is the perils of being all alone. Spider relocated outside in good health; I aged about ten years.

Engaged in many long soaks in the clawfoot bath.

Drank copious amounts of tea.

Ate chocolate healthy food.

Had a massage.

Suffered through the Worst High Tea in History (apologies to my sister for being subjected to that). On the upside, it actually inspired a change in the scene I was intending to write and I think it’s a better scene now, so all not lost.

Writing and tea drinking
Writing and tea drinking

Drank a cocktail with my sister after the Worst High Tea in History to make up for said suffering.

Oh yes, and worked long hours and finished my latest draft of The Tea Chest, ready to hand over to my publisher. Hooray!

And can I say what a brilliant job my husband did of looking after our bubbalicious, the furry children and the house all by himself for three days. What a superstar! Thank you xx

All in all, a pretty great birthday treat 🙂

 

 

 

 

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This year, my birthday wish is to work

Ah... the elegance of The Spotted Chook is waiting for me!
Ah… the elegance of The Spotted Chook is waiting for me!

Breathe in…. breathe out…. sighhhhhhhh…..

I’m starting to tingle already in anticipation of where I’m headed tomorrow: for three nights at the gorgeous Spotted Chook in Montville, on the Sunshine Coast hinterland. With much relief and joy, I’m heading away all by myself to work on my novel and this is my greatest wish for my birthday weekend, the best present a girl could have. Just me, the mountains, beautiful surrounds, my manuscript, my laptop and more chocolate than humanly possible to consume healthy food.

I need peace and quiet, no internet connection, and dedicated emotional space to finish the current draft I’m working on before it moves to its next stage towards publication. And it’s always about this time in a novel’s development that I begin to feel like it’s really maturing, so I’m excited to see in which directions it will grow in the next few days.

For me, writing retreats are not just a luxury (because sometimes they just involve locking myself in an office for extended periods of time) but an absolute necessity. It’s where the outer layers begin to peel away and I get to the core of my story, my characters and my abilities–What’s underneath that? And what’s underneath that? And that?? Push further. Go deeper. There! There it is!! Hooray!

Oh, and did I mention I’m going to high tea with my sister for the purpose of RESEARCH!? Ah huh… yep.

Happy days!

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Take Your Baby (or Dog) to Work Day

I love being self-employed. My boss can be a really hard taskmaster. And we don’t always get on. But one thing I love about her is that she let’s me take my baby and dogs (and cats and horses and sometimes my husband) to work.

That’s ‘Write On’ I reckon 🙂

baby at work2

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A Writer’s New Year Resolutions

Back to work for me today and I’m thinking about my resolutions as a writer (and reader).

1. I’m not going to read anything I’m not LOVING.

I shudder with the memory of reading this book. No more! Books I love only!
I shudder with the memory of reading this book. No more! Books I love only!

I am a slow reader so I invest a considerable amount of time in a book. All too often, I have kept plodding through a book I didn’t love because (a) I paid for it; (b) I was convinced it must get better; (c) I made a compromise with myself and thought, hey, maybe I’ll learn something from this; or (d) because I am just plain stubborn and like to see things through.

Well, NO MORE. Life it too short and my reading time too precious to be bogged down in something I’m not loving one hundred per cent. Gone are the days when I had to read something (for university, for example). I’m sure I’ve never quite recovered from the torment of reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

2. I’m going to put my writing first.

I’ve spent years writing books and all too often the practice of writing has had to take a backseat to something else–other people, running a horse rescue charity, having a ‘real’ job and making money, and stupid things like housework.

Well, NO MORE. This year, things got serious. This year, I will no longer be a starving artist. This year, I have a job. A REAL job. As a writer. How great is that? 🙂

3. I’m going to decorate my writing room.

This is something I think about doing each year, but never seem to get around to.

Well, NO MORE. This year, I’ll have pictures. Lanterns. Props. Maps. Wall planners. Flowers. Silk. And tissues at hand to mop up the drool from the cat purring in my lap.

So today I take my new year’s resolutions and march forward into a wonderous year of writing. Happy authoring one and all!