My Miles Franklin Project for 2012

Last year I entered lots of writing competitions from poetry to short stories to picture books and sent off a few manuscripts to publishers. I was delighted to receive lots of favourable mentions from competition organisers. I was ecstatic to have three stories published in anthologies but failed to obtain acceptance for publication of my very own book.

That aside, I felt that I had achieved a lot. I had created, I had practiced, I had been acknowledged and I felt engaged in the writing spirit.

This year I have taken on a project that I thought of half way through last year. It is a project that I never dreamed I would undertake. I am writing a faction chapter book or historical chapter book/junior novel. The subject of my story is Miles Franklin. My research has gained considerable momentum and has continued to delight me.

In the school holidays my family and I went to Sydney but I managed to include so much more.
We visited the Brindabella Valley, Talbingo, 26 Grey Street Carlton, Goulburn, 'Stillwater' and Tumut. It was fabulous to see the wonderful landscapes that so inspired the wonderful Miles Franklin.

At the moment I am plotting a story to be told by 'Miles' showing the first ten years of her life. There is a lot of information to distill and my job is to turn her autobiography  into a story. I plan to write a sequel which will tell her story from Goulburn to 'A brilliant career'.

When the Miles Franklin Award was announced last year I wondered if children knew who this person was. My desire to make her story accessible to children began.

I am dedicated to creating this story and am putting many other writing temptations aside for now.

So for 2012, I belong to Miles.