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JoAnna

New Anthology Published Today

October 31, 2020 by JoAnna Leave a Comment

 

Some of you will know that over ten years ago, I began looking for expat writers like myself, looking for support and advice which they couldn’t get from a more traditional group. Writers Abroad soon emerged and over the decade grew into a thriving online community. Members have come and gone, and most I would like to think, taking something with them to strengthen their writing life.

Today, Writers Abroad launched it’s sixth anthology. All proceeds from the publication have been donated to charities relating to writing or reading in some form or another. This year, the proceeds from Far Flung: Celebrating a Decade of Writers Abroad will be donated to the World Literacy Fund.

The foreword to the anthology has been written by international best-selling author, Peter May who also took part in an interview in one of our magazines some time ago. He has captured the essence of the group with his words and as an expat himself is more than familiar with the nuances of living and writing in a different country.

The publication has stories, poems and articles written by members, both past and present and offers a rich picking from which you can dip into at your leisure.

For a short time the digital version of Far Flung  is available for 99p/99c and the paperback will be available from the 14th November. Enjoy the read!

 

Filed Under: Writing

Writing Spirit

October 22, 2020 by JoAnna 2 Comments

Mmm… or did I mean sprint? I don’t know about you but with all the chronic news at the moment I definitely [Read more…] about Writing Spirit

Filed Under: journal, Reflections, Writing Health, Writing Process

Behind The Mask

August 5, 2020 by JoAnna Leave a Comment

So I took the month off, removed my mask and allowed myself to put me first. Felt very hedonistic, I don’t know why, but I’m feeling a lot happier, or perhaps at least, at ease.

  • I did have my month off from Writers Abroad although I had work to do on the anthology we’re pulling together to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. It was good to step back for a while, though incredibly difficult when I feel so responsible for it. I need to think about my role going forward, this month has given me time to reflect.
  • I did muse every day, apart from a couple of Sundays which have always been a ‘day off’ from everything. I’ve always got my head in a book, or a journal or at a screen and I think one day a week should just be to chill and relax. I’ve got some great potential stories, my battle now will be with making sure I develop something out of them. I shall resurrect my posts on My Writer Within as an incentive. I’ve realised that writing and publishing for myself is good enough. If you read and like it, that’s an added bonus.
  • I completed the Journalling Compendium–in a fashion. I read The Artist’s Way some years back and have been doing the Morning Pages, more on than off, since 2015. Doing the exercises made me realise that really I don’t have any baggage or reason holding me back. Maybe I’m getting too long in the tooth for all this reflection. It was confirmation. I am a writer, and I love my job. The only thing holding me back is me.
  • The final task I set myself was revisiting one of my projects, The Moon Series. And oh boy, did I do some world building. The thing is, as usual, I went down so many rabbit holes and ended up with bits and pieces of different systems. So I now have the job to pull it all together into something coherent. I love this part of the writing process . . .  and that’s okay by me.

The thing I’ve learnt – again – is that it’s all about choices. We all have the same hours in the day, but the difference is how we choose to use it. I’m going to choose to put my writing first despite my desire to ‘just get this done or that done first’ which always frustrates me.

And I shall continue to wear a mask, but only for Covid reasons. 😎

This Is Me.

“Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” – Oscar Wilde

 

 

Filed Under: Writing

Bootcamp Bubble July 2020

July 1, 2020 by JoAnna Leave a Comment

It’s been some time since I’ve posted. I have no excuses, not real ones. I could blame the virus, but then it’s here to stay for some time and we’ve been on lockdown since March so I can’t use that.

So instead I’m going to become one of my female characters who needs to get herself into training to slaughter the monster of procrastination and prioritisation. It’s not a matter of time, I’ve always hated the excuse of ‘I’m so busy’. It’s such a lame lament. We all have the same number of hours in the day, it’s how we choose to use them and what we consider as important.

For far too long, I’ve put my writing at the bottom of the list. Well this month things are going to change and I’m going to fight and destroy the creature that has pinned me down, eaten my muse and trampled over my confidence. If I don’t. It’s time to hand in the towel. And I have fight left within me, so fight I will.

This month in my little Boot-camp Bubble I shall be committing to the following:

  • Time out from my online group, Writers Abroad. We are currently in the midst of celebrating our 10 year anniversary and there is a lot going on but it takes a lot of my energy. They will all be there when I return, as lovely and as supportive as ever, but this is a fight I have to do on my own.

 

  • Musing every day, for 31 days. Every. Single. Day. I will write to a creative writing prompt. I generally do this every week day morning but I also plan to turn at least one of these musings a week into a short story or a scene.

 

  • Journaling I’ve been doing ‘Morning Pages’ almost every day since 2015. It had purpose way back then when I was struggling with so many things. But it’s not challenging me any more, it’s a daily diary, of my daily, rather mundane life. So I’ve purchased the Journaling Compendium by Amie McNee and shall be using her daily prompts to explore myself as a writer, if she’s willing to stick around.

 

  • World Building My writing project priority is the Moon series. I published the first novella back in early March just when we went into lockdown and I’ve not done a thing. So I shall be pulling the publication and exploring and revisiting the world I created to define the next in the series and perhaps a third. Who knows?

So, I hope to be sharing my progress on a short weekly post and I hope to pop out of my bubble at the end of the month. That’s if the monster doesn’t eat me first.

“The soul always knows what to do to heal itself, the challenge is to silence the mind.”

– Caroline Myss

 

Ciao for Now . . .

 

Filed Under: Monthly Goals, Status Update, Writing Health Tagged With: blogs for authors, character development, getting things done, joanna lamb, monthly goals, writing motivation

Hello May. . . A Little Late

May 13, 2020 by JoAnna Leave a Comment

view from our cycle ride
Sassotetto, Le Marche

But better than never. Day 63 or is it 64 of lockdown and I’m still trying to find my groove. That’s if I ever had one! Last Monday 4th May we saw the start of Phase 2 here in Italy. We’re still lying low, [Read more…] about Hello May. . . A Little Late

Filed Under: journal, Reflections, Status Update

Fancy A Short Read?

April 29, 2020 by JoAnna 1 Comment

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been making a concerted effort to place my short stories and flash fiction. I have a lot of stories, some polished some needing some work and many that will never see the light of day!

The trouble is the market is flooded and many do not offer any financial reward, some even charge a reading fee. It takes a lot of time to produce story submissions to meet a particular publisher’s requirements with no guarantees of success and selection is very subjective.

So I’ve made the decision to publish them myself. And why not? I’d rather commit the time to producing something I can share with others and under my control then see my work going into an eternal black hole for weeks, perhaps months.

Many of the stories will only take 5 minutes to read, some a lot less. We’ve all got five minutes somewhere, right? In these distracting times, I’m finding that a short read really hits the spot. And instant escapism. They are a mixture of genres, many  inspired by writing prompts from my online writing group, Writers Abroad.

“A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage. A short story is a photograph; a novel is a film.”
― Lorrie Moore

I shall post them regularly on my blog My Writer Within. It’s also a good exercise in accountability; writing, editing and polishing a piece of work. Creating a habit, a habit which I love to partake in.

Do let me know what you think in the comments and if you do something similar, please let me know, I’d love to have a read!

 

Filed Under: Writing

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