Farewell 2023

Well, what a year 2023 turned out to be. Work-wise, our local library has returned to our normal program of authors, workshops, entertainment for young families, and of course the book/magazine/movie/music/toy lending that is our bread and butter. A new trainee has given us a pleasant surprise, and thanks to COVID and other things we have been busily juggling behind the scenes so everything looks like it is running smoothly. On the home front we were blown away by our son's efforts this year, traveling to Japan as part of a school trip, and acing his final year of secondary schooling. The world truly is his oyster and we could not be prouder. Our two girls are also on the path to wonderful success with our eldest daughter Nen impressing a local childcare centre, and our youngest daughter proving to be quite the entrepreneur (she cannot wait for her next birthday when she can finally get out into the workforce earning her own money). I have had a successful year of writing with a number of my stories and poems being accepted for publication on websites such as Black Hare Press, Academy of the Heart and Mind, The World of Myth Magazine, and many more. Looking back on 2023 it actually surprised me to see how successful it has been. Speaking of The World of Myth and publications, Dark Myth and their kids press subsidy published my children's novel The Neighbor and my youth novella Murdle Notton's Guide to World Domination. I hope to have another youth fantasy published by them this year on top of the sequel to The Neighbor, The Teacher. I have also enjoyed recording the weekly podcast for this company, The World of Mythbits, having almost recorded 70 episodes. I really enjoy each month the opportunity to read and review the magazine they publish, with the other episodes themed on writing, and general musings from my mind and life. Now that we have a fresh new year to look forward to I am hoping that I will be posting more. Fingers crossed I will have loads of good news to share. Until then, I hope that you are all safe, happy, and well, wherever life finds you. Ciao for now, and happy 2024!! Tim

The Laws go to the Movies... Again... Review of Wonka

Oh my gosh, my poor blog... Six months must be a new record for me, and NOT a good one. To say I have been busy is no excuse, but I can say I have been doing A LOT of writing (just not blogging). Two books published this year (The Neighbor reccomended for kids aged 7 to 12 years, and Murdle Notton's Guide to World Domination recommended for 16 plus, both available from Mythmart), a number of short stories and poetry, and I have been working on a fantasy novel (Paechra's Tale), teen fiction, and the sequel to The Neighbor. In between all of that there has been so much going on at my local library (wonderful author events, holiday activities, workshops, information sessions) with so much more instore for 2024. On the family front we now officially have a home full of teenagers, and have recently brought our number of cats back up to four. I am now Opa to a kitten of chaos, and have discovered how much fun that can be. With so many teens it is becoming tougher to discover something that the whole family is happy to do together. Luckily for us in the time between Chrimstmas and New Year our local cinema (shout out to the Cameo) is currenly showing the new Wonka film, the origin tale of the magically mad chocolatier... And so, without futher delay let us briefly examine this film from the point of view of two 40+ adults and, a 17, 16, and 13 year year old teen... The 17 and 13 year olds were the most difficult ones to convince to come along. Our 17 year old son is getting more and more picky about where and when he will hang out with us. And our 13 year old daughter bombarded us with warnings of child torture, waterboarding, and other horrors, we informing her that a film rated Parental Guidance would not leave her scarred. Our 16 year old has always been a fan of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) film. Thankfully Wonka is the prequel to this film, as we are not such big fans of the later remake with a certain Depp in the main role. It was great to see a fair few locals support the Cameo Cinema, unfortunately we did have a large and chaotic family sit in front of us which was a distraction, but that more affected my wife and kids. I was caught up in the magic happening on screen from the very first note... Did anyone else forget that Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a musical? I had, but was quickly reminded as Wonka began, and I do not normally mind these types of films so went along with it easily. It great testiment to the tunes is that our 17 year old did not mind them either. The challenge for me with this film was distiguishing between what was imagined and what was Wonka-ed reality. Dreams became truths, and then trouble. As a writer I could follow the arc, character developing challenges, our hero helped from unlikely places, the ultimate decision, and then the final moment when the overarching arc is resolved... But even with this knowledge Wonka proved a joy to experience. It gladdens my childish sentiment that this new film has modernized the best of the original, fifty or so years on, giving us some wonderful excuses to skip down Memory Lane, mixing in a cast of new strange characters to keep every generation entertained. But, does this venture into pure escapism deserve the ultimate score? In my opinion the answer is YES... Five delicious chocolates out of five must be given to a film that has the whole family leave with smiles on their faces... Bravo Mr. Wonka, bravo...

Inspired to Write

To all, once again it has been a little while between posts, my poor blog must feel constantly ignored, and you in turn perhaps feel the same my readers... I have been inspired by another blogger, Scarlett of Scarlett's Reality Tunnel (find her latest post here https://scarlettsbpdcorner.wordpress.com/) who is celebrating 1,500 followers... What I love most about Scarlett's posts is that she shares honestly, and that she is so grateful for everything and everyone. On the family front I took the crew (all five of us, including Master 17) to our local zoo to enjoy the Leamer Experience, and although it was a cool, winter's morning, those critters were as active as ever. So much fun!! A great way to end my four week holiday and celebrate turning 44!! My writing is going well, those holidays certainly helped. I now have a new facebook platform where I will be sharing all my successes and stumbles... If you are keen to know what I am up to with that please like and follow https://www.facebook.com/timlawauthor All is quiet in the house right now, so I will finish up here and get on to finishing a dragon story... Keep an eye out for my promo post for this House of Loki anthology... I never considered myself a children's author, but life has a funny way of simply making things happen... Ciao for now... Tim

Another leap in the Right Direction

It's out! It's here! A dream has finally come true... My children's novel The Neighbor from M-Kids Pres has turned from a few short stories into a real life book... I am so grateful to David K Montoya and Stephanie J Bardy, the team at Dark Myth Publishing, for loving my writing and working so hard with me to help produce such a beautiful book. I am so grateful also to my family, to Heidi and the kids, as well as extended family, the love, support, and encouragement has helped me so much to push on, to overcome any doubts and hurdles, and to achieve what seemed impossible. For anyone interested here is the link to where you can purchase a copy... (https://www.mythmart.com/) And a hearty thank you must go out to the amazing Alan Johnson who has not only already bought a copy of my book, but also produced this wonderful video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmIVDwQW3nA Hioefully this is just the beginning...

The Man! The Hair! The Boots! The Style! - Markus Hamence visits the Murray Bridge Library

It is always a thrill when we get a celebrity visit The Murray Bridge Library, and it is made especially fun when that celebrity so happens to be the wonderful Markus Hamence whom I am a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGEEEEE fan of. Markus is so passionate about indoor plants, oozes style, and is truly living his best life. We had this great man visit the Murray Bridge community as part of our April school holiday program. The kids who came along had so much fun designing mini tereriums. All the way through Markus was so encouraging and so supportive. We have a new generation of green thumbs, all inspired by Markus' passion for plants. I cannot wait to see what happens the next time that The Botanic Designer visits The Bridge.

More From the Mind of Tim - Family Day Out as Cold Weather Looms

Hi everyone, I am so sorry that it seems like I have left you. Things are really going well with my dream of becoming a fulltime writer, but my job as a Library Team Leader is far from over and is getting very busy as well. On the home front the kids are getting bigger and therefore busier too. My son is learning to drive and our eldest daughter is almost at the stage where she will be learning this skill too. My wife is working extra and there is rarely a moment when we are all free on the same day... Crazy times!! We are currently in the midst of the April school term break... Lots of families visiting the library where I work, lots of holiday activities that I am either running directly or somehow involved in. Staff restructures and new staff coming onboard makes for little opportunity for much else. I am so luck to have such an amazing team behind me. On the family front we found today (Sunday, April 23rd 2023) to be a gloriously sunny Sunday and a great day to go out as a family. We had never attempted fruit picking as a family (putting off a trip to the incredible Monarto Open Plains Zoo to try something completely new) so we all piled in the car and took off for Lenswood in the Hills area, searching for an apple orchard. Master 17 was at the wheel and did a wonderful job, more hours to add towards the seventy five that each Learner needs to clock up before they can aquire their P plates... The apple picking was great fun, and it was wonderful to see so many families out and about. We couldn't stop picking, Fuji, Granny Smith, and Golden Deliscious were all ripe, along with some Jonathan to add to our bags at the end. We discovered we had been a touch over enthusiastic when it came time to weigh and pay, but that is all part of the learning experience. I love our family adventures, and I cannot wait to discover where we adventure next!

Climbing Upon the Shoulders of Giants

When a door closes, does a window open? Not always so it seems, or at least not straight away. I am referring to my writing journey but I could be speaking about anything. In the case of my writing though I am discovering more and more opportunities to publish, thus far there is nothing yet associated with big named publishers... I am still chasing the pot of gold. For all of the windows that I am discovering, some open and some still as yet closed, I wonder if I will ever have time to knock on the big, golden door. I dream that life will be different, clearer perhaps. I know that my wife and my family are dreaming too, dreaming about a little cabin in the woods far away from everything. I like the idea of a quiet beach somewhere, perhaps one day we will have both. Until then though I must say a HUGE thank you to the existence of independent (Indy) publishers. Black Hare Press, Dark Myth Publishing, Black Ink Fiction, Pure Slush, Sweety Cat Press, Academy of the Heart and Mind, The House of Loki, to name but a handful of so many publishers, all of them successfully sharing the works of writers and artists such as myself, creators from all corners of this globe. Many of these Indy publishers are a one-person, two-person, or perhaps ten (if they're lucky) person team. It all equates to the same thing; more windows, more doors, and thus even more opportunities. Now all it seems we need is more time. One day someone will come up with a way to make that happen too. While we wait and hope for that we must make the most of the time we have got. If you are not sure, knock, and knock loudly. Doors and windows can only swing open when we seek them and ask.

The Joys of Being a Writer

I have begun a new year, already with a poem and a short story scheduled for publication. This morning I recieved in my email digital copies of three anthologies from Black Ink Fiction, five of the stories being animal themed drabble (stories of exactly 100 words), and the other two being short stories of the erotic romance genre. My experience as a writer since the end of 2018 when I started taking this hobby seriously has been a true eye opener. I have made a multitude of supportive friends online, people who write and publish from all over the world, and I have discovered wonderful support from friends and family here at home. I still don't consider myself a professional writer, not yet, but this hobby has enabled me to feature in so many anthologies (both in digital format and in print) that it is getting more and more difficult for me to consider myself a librarian first and a storyteller and poet second. All things considered though, I will always make being a husband and a father my top priority. Hopefully, 2023 will continue to provide me with ample time to submit my stories, short and long, and to maybe one day pay my way through writing... There are many opportunities for the writer of today, one just needs to be clever and quick. A thick skin helps too, along with wonderful friends and family from all over the world willing to stand in your corner and cheer you on. Thank you all!

Family time thanks to Puss and Wednesday

Happy New Year and all the best for 2023 to you all. I am ashamed to admit that I have started a weekly podcast for an independent publisher and am recording podcast episodes much faster than I am posting here. Perhaps I should get into the habit of posting the same day that I record... I guess time will tell... Speaking of time, we have seen in a new year very differently this year... A quick family escape, a planned trip to the seaside that went from two days to one. The river that runs through our town of Murray Bridge as well as numerous other places located in New South Wales, Victoria, and our home state of South Australia is rising, and rising unusually high. One thing that is a result of all of this river water is that the oceam mouth (where the river flows into the sea) is now quite murky and yucky. A trip to the beach is no longer the same joy that it once was. New Years' Eve at Victor though impressed us with the family fireworks and fun things for families to do. Unfortunately the accomadation let us down somewhat and so we returned to a home that is relatively spider free. It was strange to have New Years just as a family, normally there is a party at our house and lots of hugs and kisses when the old year makes way for the new. I guess traditions change, and this tradition helps us focus on what is important, family. And on the topic of family we have had a wonderful family day out recently in which we managed to catch the latest flick from DreamWorks, Puss in Boots - The Last Wish. If each member of our family had a star to allocate then this film would get at the very least four and a half blazing, beautiful, dazzling stars. Probably five if we were all honest. Great characters, and engaging storyline, a good one for the whole family. Something that deserves ten stars at least is the reimagining of the Addams Family, the Netflix series Wednesday. Our eldest has watched it when it first came out and we held off because I heard it was dark and very violent. Then we heard my brother-in-law was watching it with his family and they have kids much younger than ours. So we bit the bullet and decided to give it a go and absolutely loved it. Even Mr. 16 decided to join us for a few of his fav episodes. All in all a great start for us for 2023. Hopefully, this trend will continue.