Image by Dawn Q. Landau at http://talesfromthemotherland.me
Wake. Wee. Wash. Eat. Dress. Drive. Work. Work. Work. Work.
Drive. Cook. Cook. Eat. Clean. Clean. Sit. Watch. Brush. Sleep.
Monthly Archives: February 2015
Top ten books loved by my 1 year old
Every morning, our 1 year old gets into bed with us and together we read five books that we’ve borrowed from the library. He likes new books, but there’s a few that are clear standouts. ‘More!’ he shouts over and over and I find myself reading the book from cover to cover ten times… and all of this before 7am.
I’ve listed below his top ten favourite books and what he loves about them. Before I know it this list will change completely, so I better write it down before we forget.
1. Junkyard Dig!: Building from A to Z by Annie Auerbach
These trucks who live in Trucktown decide to build a fort from various things they find at the dump. My son loves the rocket (we countdown 3-2-1 then blast off) and the umbrella (that pops open then floats down into his lap) and the yak (because it looks like he has a banana on his head). He also squeals with delight when he sees the teddy bear on the front grill of Gabriella the Garbage Truck.
Filed under Top ten books
10. Lord of the Flies – William Golding (100 book challenge)
A bunch of boys get stuck on a tropical island without any adults. Sounds pretty tame, doesn’t it?
Lord of the Flies (1954) was the 10th book on my 100 book challenge and drew me in from the very beginning. A group of boys are stranded on a desert island. At first it seems like paradise, but just a few pages in you start to see things going terribly wrong. The boys can’t agree on whether they should focus on being rescued (build a fire) or getting meat to eat (hunt pigs). The two main characters, Ralph and Jack, bicker, argue and viciously fight throughout the book. Everything falls apart quickly when the structure and rules of society are taken away.
It’s a beautiful (and at times terrifying) warning of just how fragile the order of civilisation is.
Filed under 100 book challenge
YouTube version of our DWF15 session this morning
“ABC Open: From Page to National Stage – writing for the national broadcaster”
Watch how my ABC Open 500 words projects took me from being a solitary writer to having national (and international) publication of my works.
(My section starts at 20 mins 30 secs)
Filed under Events
It’s almost here! #DWF15
At 11am AEDT tomorrow (Saturday) I will be presenting at the Digital Writers Festival, talking about how just 500 words a month took my writing to places I never imagined (one of those places being the DWF itself!)
Anyone can watch the session online by going here and interact via Twitter using #DWF15. Go on! I dare you to ask me a thought-provoking question and watch me squirm!
Filed under Events
Equus quagga (Friday Fictioneers)
Image by Rochelle herself at https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/
‘Zebras’ stripes are like fingerprints. Every one is different.’
She loved animals, especially zebras. I loved listening to her talk.
We were lounging on the deck, the lines of shade from the banister settling across our backs.
After a while she said, ‘I gotta go.’
She stretched her long limbs and stood, shaking a mane of dark hair behind her.
When she walked away I saw what the afternoon of sun had done. The back of her legs and her bare shoulders were a criss-cross pattern of dark and light, unique and never to be repeated again.
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Could you write 500 words once a month? On Friday 13th/Saturday 14th February, Jessie Ansons will be presenting at a free livestream at the Digital Writers Festival. Come along and hear how Jessie wrote a personal 500 word story every month for two years then discovered she’d written an ‘accidental memoir‘. Times are as follows:
– Sydney, Australia, 11am Saturday 14th February
– London, UK, midnight, Friday 13th February
– New York, USA, 7pm Friday 13th February
– Los Angeles, USA, 4pm Friday 13th February
For more information about the session, click here.
Follow @jessieansons*********
Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information follow this Rochelle’s FF blog.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers
AUDIO: The Monet (ABC Open 500 words – I broke it)
I wrote about how a framed picture of Monet’s water-lillies played an integral (if not, embarrassing) part of a roadtrip up the coast. ABC liked it and produced it for Radio National’s Life Matters program.
It’s a short, fun piece about young love. You can listen to the audio here (where you’ll agree that singing is not my strength) or read the online published piece here.
Image by Matt Spurr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/50548240@N06/5563660903
Filed under ABC Open 500 words
Believable stories (Friday Fictioneers)
Image by Melanie Greenwood at https://thisismycorn.wordpress.com
grandad tells the most marvellous stories
never know whether to believe him
there’s this overgrown thicket
used to be a maze
what happened to it
local boy got stuck in the maze
he should’ve put his right hand on the hedge and kept walking
no he was stuck
chainsaw to cut him out
getting dark and his uncle panicked
cut a big hole in the hedge
let it grow over then
why didn’t they fix it
bad memories
but why were they bad
grandfather held me close and put his hand on my shoulder
the hand with the three fingers
(Check out Mr Binks and his funny #replyfiction to this piece here)
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Interested in meeting me in person… well, via webcam at least? On Friday 13th/Saturday 14th February I will be presenting at a free livestream at the Digital Writers Festival, talking about my ABC Open 500 word stories. Times are as follows:
– Sydney, Australia, 11am Saturday 14th February
– London, UK, midnight (Friday 13th night… sounds spooky!)
– New York, USA, 7pm Friday 13th February
– Los Angeles, USA, 4pm Friday 13th February
For more information about the session, click here.
Follow @jessieansons**************
Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information follow this link.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers
Join me online on February 14th at the Digital Writers Festival
Image by Liz West at http://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/5442198535
What are your plans for Valentines Day this year? Will you be sitting at home, bored and uninspired, looking for something to do?
Excellent! Then you might be interested in this.
As a pre-cursor to the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne in May/June, there will be a Digital Writers Festival (DWF) in February. Many of the sessions are FREE and you can attend simply by switching on your computer at home.
At 11am on Saturday 14th February, I will be presenting at the DWF as part of the ABC Open session. We’ll be showcasing all the cool things ABC Open does to support the community to get creative online. I’ll no doubt talk about my 20 short 500-word pieces and how when put together they became My Accidental Memoir. And our session is FREE to attend.
I’ll let you know closer to the date how you can join us and the other sessions happening around that time.
And now you can say you have plans for Valentines Day!
Filed under Events
Jessie Ansons 