sunshine coast – Page 4 – Josephine Moon

One of my strongest memories of Christmas as a child was the unbelievable anticipation and excitement of unwrapping a brand new Enid Blyton Noddy book. Oh boy. How I loved that little guy and his friends.

Kids and books: they just go together, don’t they?

I’d love to pass on that excitement to another child (other than my own, obviously) so I’m donating books to the Salvation Army’s book appeal through the Sunshine Coast Libraries.

If you don’t live on the Sunshine Coast, there are other ways to get books to children. You could try these links:

The Smith Family

Wesley Mission

Or you could connect with your local op shop, shelter or council to see what’s going on.

Christmas, at its best, is a joyous, imaginative, creative and inspiring time of year. My wish is for every child to receive the lifelong gift of reading.

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!