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Saturday, October 11, 2014

Fun in the Sun

by Anna Campbell

The writing life tends to be fairly solitary most of the time (which is actually one of its appeals for me). It's you with your characters and your story in front of a computer or a notebook or whatever your medium of choice is when it comes to getting down those ideas. So it's always great fun to catch up with some of my writing mates and get out and about.

Recently my critique partner Annie West came up to see me on Queensland's Sunshine Coast and for a few days we really lived the high life.

Of course we did a lot of work too. We always do when we get together and it's been the sort of year where we've only managed one other session together, so we had a lot to catch up on personally and professionally.

You can see what I mean about work and high life coinciding in this picture of French champagne (a birthday present I'd saved) and our notebooks out and ready for any inspiration lurking in the bubbles to strike.

It did strike! 

In between all our book natter, we did some lovely walks. It's spring here where I live and the weather was just gorgeous.

I hope you like the picture of the pelicans along Pumicestone Passage. They're among my favorite birds - so full of personality. And they're the most beautiful fliers.

We also managed to see a dolphin. I've been living here permanently nearly ten years and that's the first time I've seen one in the bay. Lovely! He hung around for ages, just lazily popping and down as if to say hello.

The photos of Annie and the one with the sea in the background are from a lovely lunch we had at a very nice local restaurant. We always try to celebrate a recent publication from one of us and in this case, we were toasting the success of Annie's REBEL'S BARGAIN which is out next month from Harlequin. It's a corker of a read so we popped a few champagne corks to wish it on its way to the world!

By the time Annie left, I had a book or two plotted and a whole stack of writerly mojo to carry me forward to our next meeting. I hope it's soon!

So what have you been up to lately? Any celebrations on the horizon?



5 comments:

Mary Preston said...

I'm actually heading up your way next month to visit my mother. Put in an order of good weather for me please!!

My mother will be 90 next birthday. That will be a celebration to remember.

Anna Campbell said...

Wow, Mary, definitely worth celebrating! Spring is actually a really nice time here - summers can be a bit sticky.

Annie West said...

Hi Anna! How lovely to see this post this morning. Those pictures have brought back wonderful memories. Can I admit that I'd love to be back there right now, talking books and plots and soaking up that sense of relaxation too?

Loved our celebratory lunch for Rebel's Bargain (and us!). That was such a terrific day. I think it's only when we stop to regroup that we realise exactly how hard we've been working and how frantically we're using up almost every waking hour. One of the things I like about our time together is that we do work but that we get to relax as well!

Like Mary I've been scheduling birthday celebrations. I just attended a 1st birthday party and before that a 90th. Quite a range and both very special.

Anna Campbell said...

Annie, I was just thinking yesterday how much MORE fun I was having last Saturday than I'm having this Saturday. Yes, please, come back now! Wow, a 1st birthday party and a 90th? Talk about covering all the bases on life's journey. I hope they were both great fun.

Anna Campbell said...

Thanks to everyone who checked out my post and especially to the people who commented. See you next month!