About Me

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.

My books

The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places. The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell

Buy The Talismans

The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Available as an e-book on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon. Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

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Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong,  Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park

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Sunday 18 November 2007

The Creative Cycle

A few weeks ago, I blogged a Writers Workshop I'd attended, facilitated by Peter Dunn under the auspices of the Coastal Quills Writers Group. Last Wednesday was the follow-up meeting. Being in the evening, and a cool dark evening at that, it was less well-attended than it might have been, but in a way that was good because it allowed for a more informal approach and time to chat. Peter had set up a plan centred on the idea that the writing process can be seen as a cycle. I have always thought if it as linear - Beginning (research, ideas, planning) Middle (start the project) and End (polish and market the product) but for his analogy, Peter Dunn used the annual cycle of seasons:

Spring – awakening, enthusiasm, planning, creating
Summer – relaxation, confidence, enjoyment
Autumn – consideration, slowing down, ripening
Winter – static, frozen, unfruitful, but also gestation, preparation.

The keywords are not necessarily those Peter gave us to play with but my spin on them. The concept gave me another of those "Aha!" moments when I realised that the creative process is not linear, but cyclical. It put the idea of "writer's block" in perspective, as simply being indicative of a time when ideas need to lie fallow like autumn-sown fields, ready to spring to life when conditions are right. And like winters, some such periods are long and others are short. For the last few months I've been going though a longish one – I say "longish" because one hears of writers being blocked for years on end – but I've come to the conclusion that it's best to be patient; to wait for the seeds to germinate in their own time. In the interim, I do what I can – research, edit, and write a few words here and there as mini-ideas surface.

One excellent tip I've had was "ten words" – just write ten words a day! The idea came from Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series. All the tips are worth reading, as evinced by the fact that they are sprouting up on blogs all over the internet. Just Google for "Naomi Novik" + "ten words" and you will find them.

Novik wrote the tips for participants in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). A number of friends including Simon Haynes are participating in this once-a-year writing marathon. They aim to write 50,000ww during November. I'd have as much chance of doing that as doing what Sean Williams is doing - growing a mustache for the Movember (Men's Health) Foundation! Sean is charting his progress in haiku and pictures.

That's more links than I've ever included in a post before. I hope they all work:-)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

A few of my friends use a writing calendar. Each year they start with a fresh "writing" calendar. They put the calendar in the room where they tend to write, with a package of gold stars like what's used in the early years of school.

If they write at least 100 words a day they get to put a gold star on the calendar.

They swear seeing the gold stars add up are just important at 50 something as they were at age 5.

Silly Yak Tales said...

I know for a fact that to keep my momentum I have to write everyday. If I don't it is hard for me to start again. I have done nothing in a long while and it may be because of looking at rewriting the whole book.

Randi-Lee

Satima Flavell said...

I'm in a similar position, Randi. I started the book all over again earlier in the year and I was doing OK until I got to the last third - then I just kind of lost it. I hope I can get some momentum back soon. Maybe your gold star idea will help. Jody!

Marilyn Z. Tomlins said...

Writing is definitely something seasonal. As far as I am concerned anyway. I write best in autumn and winter. I am sure that should I be able to go and live in Siberia this winter I will write another "War and Peace".

As for Jody's comment. I could never write to a calendar. I've learned to accept my bad days. Best is not even to reboot the pc on those days.
Marilyn

Satima Flavell said...

Hmm - I'm not sure when I write best, Marilyn, although I think it might be autumn. Right now, I'd just like to be able to write at all...

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