Wordsmith Lane

Blogger’s Desk: The Christmas/New Year’s Edition

Good Tidings, Wordsmith Laners, and thank you for tuning into Wordsmith Lane over the past few months. I hope we can develop a bigger, better relationship over the course of 2010, and more importantly, I hope you all develop a bigger and better platform from which you can make your wordsmith dreams come true, no matter how big or small, or how close or faraway the are/seem.

I don’t know about you, but 2010 is a year I am much too excited about. Apart from the fact that I am getting married, it poses a lot more optimism and change for me than the last year did. I don’t remember how excited I was about 2009, but up until then I had enjoyed a breezy kind of existence, one which 2009 shook to the core. Let’s recap:

• Taking of job not 100% loved, which involved long working hours, significant travel, and no amount of career-climbing steps needed to make something out of it. But reasonable, regular pay, so couldn’t complain.
• Redundancy from said job. Resultant unemployment for about five months. Relief at no more long working hours, but difficulty in living due to zero cash flow.
• Rectified said problem by taking on casual job at USYD and attempting to survive on freelancing. Freelance budget cut most places due to the wretched wicked witch of the recession, so this was made difficult. Also, hated waking up at the crack of dawn in winter to make 7am start for USYD job. News Hours. Not happy, despite journalism degree telling me it is expected in industry.
• Diagnosed with depression somewhere in all this mess. Couldn’t focus on dreams. Sad, despairing, despondent. No longer interested in dreams. Even worse. Thesis got no action. Felt like a giant disappointment.
• Too much pressure on self in the midst of too much anxiety. No job meant little income, lost a house I really wanted to buy because of this. Body could not take it anymore. Collapsed, hospitalised for days, lost beloved grand father in hospital.

Eeek! So you can imagine why I am looking forward to 2010. But, like with the start of every year, I am not going blindly into it. Instead, I am making a list, and checking it twice this Christmas, to make sure that I am on track with regards to what I want out of 2010. Over the next week or two, I will do everything in my power to help prepare for this change in tack. Here are some of the things I am planning for:

• A complete and total overhaul of my buying ways, and a consistent effort to minimise clutter. I’ve been an avid consumer in my money-making life time, I shall not lie. But the GFC and, let’s not lie, my cluttered existence, has made me re-evaluate the neccessity of many things, and a cluttered, less-than-thrifty existence. Reading about simpler, more earth-friendly ways of living, and following the columns of Sarah Wilson, has made me realise that I do not need the amount of crap I own/buy and that I need to really think about the pruchases I make. Especially because I am the type of person that overhauls her closet every two months or so and rids herself of items she might have only worn once. To that end, I promise to live by more experiences (travel, dining, saving to make my home/domestic life better) and buy into the type of things (fashion-wise anyway) that deliver. Yes, that is an excuse for me to continue to lust after another Chanel Bag and a Burberry Trench.
• Cleaning. Systematic storage. The kind of stuff that goes hand-in-hand with all the above, and which is manifested in my email inbox and my desk. And my drawers. Cheers to me tossing as much as I can out of my life. And on a periodic basis to stop it building up ever again!
• Pilates. Pilates for mind. Pilates for Body. Pilates for Spirit. I know that a healthier lifestyle will bring so much more to my life, and along with a better diet and more enjoyable, relaxing exercise, like casual strolls or indoor rock climbing, Pilates will give me the physical strength that I need to help me to tackle my emotional and mental blockages.
• An overhaul of how I look at my goals list. I’ve already blogged about cutting down my 2010 goals to just one (write my book and get a publishing deal for it) to save me the worry of thinking myself an underachiever, but a general, this-goal-can-wait attitude is something I need in my life to stop being so anxious and pushing myself. There is always next month/next year to do this, and if I don’t, it’s ok. I have done a lot of other things and there’s always more to do and accomplish.
• My marriage. It’s getting very easy to think in terms of  a wedding as opposed to a marriage. I come from a very traditional background, and believe that marriage is sacred and requires a lot of effort. It’s not something I plan to take lightly. So instead of being a bridezilla about the wedding, which is over in one day with a whole load of bills coming after it, I am going to be a wifezilla about my marriage and try to make it as good as it can possibly be (not perfect, I already know there’s no such thing). That said, my wedding is still going to cost me in excess of $50k (I am Lebanese, this is how we do), but as long as I keep reminding myself that it is less than half of some of my loved ones’ weddings, I will be ok.
• Wordsmith Lane. I need to stop worrying about how I am going to factor in time for Wordsmith Lane, because honestly, sometimes, I have to accept that it is just not going to happen with my thesis and my journalism and my book and my wedding. And well, my life. So I have decided to take the ones who have gotten in touch up on their offers of guest posts. If you too are interested in writing some guests posts for Wordsmith Lane, whether it is a rant about your own writing, or a review of a book or writing course, or an experience at a festival or with a writer you met, do get in touch. Email me at sarah[@]sarahayoub.com and I will be more than glad to consider your idea.
• Read things that make me feel good. Things like Daily Candy and Marian Keyes tales and other great novels by great authors. Check into my girly reads a little more. Buy the occasional Tatler or Vanity Fair, even with their massive price tags.
• Write. Look at it not as work but as my love. The one thing that I feel called to do for my career. Love it. Feel it. Embrace it. Treat every piece that I possibly can as that particular peice that just has to be associated with me. And most certainly, do it all without thinking.
• Think less. My constant thinking has got to be a key contributor to all the toxic build up in my life. Who cares about what other people think. I didn’t care in hospital, and back then, it was supposed to matter.
• If I can spare the cash for it, I’d like to take a class to learn something different and get out of my usual comfort zone. Dancing, or cake decorating, or sewing or French. One of those would be my picks for sure.
• Take breaks! Breaks to indulge in the glory that is life and free time. To watch movies or TV or go for walks or go out for coffee or even weekends away!

A long list, but all achievable. And with that, I must take my leave of Wordsmith Lane for Christmas and New Year. I will be back on the 18th January, and next year, I promise interviews with Tracy Spicer, Caroline Overington, Zoe Foster and more. Plus, we’ll take advice from Miss Sarah Jane Adams and more on how to get a regular column and more! In the mean time, continue to work on your wordsmith dreams, and to hope and pray for a beautiful, happy and prosperous 2010.

Merry Christmas to all - and peace on earth, and goodwill to all men (and women).

Much love and Christmas blessings xx

holiday reads for even the fussiest wordsmiths

Five days till Christmas. Five days till we’re stuck with the family for an obligatory, fun-for-five-minutes-then-incredibly-infuriating period of time. Days away from work. Days where we just want to lay by the pool/on the sand/amidst the bliss of air conditioning drinking vodkas or apple cider beer. Or if we’re in the northern parts of this wonderful world, curl up on the sofa with some egg nog/warm tea or chocolate-milk concoction and some left-over pudding or fruit mince pies. Basically, days of just laying about and wondering why there’s nothing on TV or why we have to watch whatever mum/dad/little nephew wants to watch at a volume too loud to describe.

The best way to combat the inevitable boredom that comes with the afore-mentioned situations? Good reads. Transporting one self from the immediate surroundings and into Wonderland/someone else’s marriage/career crisis/holiday/research findings. And because we’re wordsmith’s, the bliss of being able to lock into yet another writer’s style, prose, sense of setting and character and plot. Looking at how they SHOW and not TELL, how they develop their characters, their unique marks of writing. In light of these very blissful benefits (in fact, some of the best books overwhelm me so completely that I can’t help but be temporarily transformed emotionally and often mentally – sometimes in a manner not too sane, though), I have provided a very detailed list of some great, recent reads that will keep you in check over the holiday season. There’s a variety of genres and titles to choose from too, so if you think any of them are worthy (and they are all are for various reasons or other) head to your local bookstore NOW (and because they all have extended trading hours/an online presence you have absolutely no excuse) and bury your head into a drama/reality that’s totally worth your while. After all, there’s only so much family love, or questions about when you’re gonna settle down, that you can take.

1. For a feel-good buzz, read:

Valerie Parv’s edited collection, How do I love thee: Stories to stir the heart ($27.99, Allen & Unwin), short stories all written by various international writers, all paying homage to love (they are linked by the adage ‘How do I love thee, Let me count the ways’) but all diverse – some contemporary, some from eras old, some with elements of fantasy and others with a naughty outlook. Want something a little more home-hitting? Check out What Kate did next by Lisa Heidke ($29.99, Allen & Unwin), a funny, true-to-life tale of a woman who decides to return to the workforce after a very long stint as a home-maker, and the lessons she learns along the way.

2. If you’re top of the news and current affairs, read:

Australia’s Immigrant Revolution by Andrew Markus, James Jupp and Peter McDonald ($29.99, Allen & Unwin) – a realistic, non-glorified nor exaggerated look at the population make-up of fair down under, thanks to the various migration policies and patterns over the past 50 odd years or so. Prefer something with a little bit more flair, but that’d still give you that insight you crave? You can’t go past Peter Yeldham’s A Distant Shore ($32.95, Penguin), a moving tale of a young immigrant girl growing up in Australia, and the way that shapes her attitudes to displaced persons and political struggles throughout her life.

3. For something that thrills you to the core. read:

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse ($29.99, Orion) — a haunting story of love, the great war and southern France by an addictive, international best-selling author. Speaking of best-selling authors, R.J. Ellory is also on a mission to thrill with his latest book, The Anniversary Man ($32.99, Orion), which tells the story of a man who barely escaped death at the hands of an eighties serial killer who happened to murder his girlfriend, only to be threatned by it as he tries to link a new, seemingly-random spate of killings as a crime researcher for a major newspaper.

4. For beautiful literary works, read:

Jacob G. Rosenberg’s The Hollow Tree ($26.99, Allen & Unwin) — a parable of war and the atrocities that come with it, and a poignant story of love and human resilience. Prefer something a little lighter but just as good? Read the gothic page-turner that is Of Bees and Mist by Eric Setiawan ($32.99, Headline), which tells the story of two families, love and the strangeness that seems to follow them.

5. When you’re just not getting you loved ones, read:

Women are Crazy, Men are Stupid by Howard J Morris and Jenny Lee ($24.99, Allen & Unwin), a hilarious book with the answers that match up to our complicated relationships. On a sadder note, those of us with children or siblings going through one of life’s many little rough patches would be thankful for the answers in Gordon Parker and Kerrie Eyers’ Navigating Teenage Depression ($24.99, Allen & Unwin). Considering the stats on depression in Australia (and I used to be one of them!) this is a welcome guide to help keep chins up and realities that perfect mix of personal and scientific.

6. For the words of award-winning wordsmiths, read:

Miles Franklin Winner Andrew McGahan’s Wonders of a Godless World ($32.99, Allen & Unwin), a story of madness, discovery and amazing-happenings of the human reality, or Peter Carey’s Parrot and Olivier in America ($49.95, Penguin), a unique and enjoyable tale of friendship, freedom and the birth of modern America.

7. If you like your guilty pleasures, read:

The intoxicating story of Tess Drake, out to get what she deserves in the cut-throat entertainment industry with often sizzling or sticky consequences, in The Agency ($23.99, Allen & Unwin) or the irresistable Dream Machine by Will Davis ($32.99, Allen & Unwin), which chronicles the pursuits of fame and fortune on the set of a reality TV series.

One life revolution

I’ve been a bad blogger of late. I know that I say it all the time, and nothing ever changes, but I do honestly try to change and somedays I do better than others.

Over the past week, I’ve decided to reward myself for surviving this ‘tumultous’ year with perpetual laziness. Actually, that’s a lie. I rewarded myself with perpetual laziness on the weekend, but my weeknights were filled with various engagements including work events (I oversee a number of church parishes’ scripture teachers, so I tend to attend their end of year functions), Christmas Carol choir practise (which I thought would be fun but is actually quite exhausting – I will never take another choir for granted again!) and visits to relatives to thank them for my engagement wishes/cards/gifts etc.

As a result of this, my list of books to review has piled from here to eternity, and I am a bit back-logged with some of my posts. But, as much as I love you all, I have not been worrying about this so much as how I will manage in 2010, if I live long enough God-willing. I’ve previously blogged about taking on so many things, so I’m not going to harp on about it today, but I am going to tell you that in an attempt at calming myself and sorting my plans out for 2010, I wrote all the things I need to be doing in 2010 on a post-it, to see if I can A) scrap anything, or B) post-pone it. I managed to whittle down and edit my list to a few things:

• Journalism – the essence of who I am on a vocational level and thus, not something I can ever resolve to pass up. However, in an attempt to move on to bigger and better things, I’ll be taking on less voluntary writing to have publishers and editors take me more seriously as a writer.
• Novel Writing – this is my time to develop my project, as it might pave the way for more journalism work, and thus help me to establish myself as a full-time writer as opposed to one juggling other jobs on the side, and earnestly praying to God for more hours in the day
• Blogging – because I feel the love from you wordsmith laner’s and can’t bear the thought of not interacting with you – no matter how minimal – in the capacity that I do. I love hearing your thoughts and advising you on your writing careers, and I love posting those Wordsmith Interviews on Fridays when I am able. I learn just as much from them as you do! Besides, what kind of writer will I be if I abandoned one of my web presences when I advise you to nurture them?
• Thesis – Ah yes, my neglected project of 2009 will require much more attention in 2010. Besides, it is serving for beneficial purposes in helping me to develop a niche for more writing and media work.
• All of the above will of course be shared with my regular job – which takes up most of my time and which I desperately need in order to A)stay sane, B) service the Lord a little better, and C) – and let’s not lie – to make money, because the first four aspects fall a little too short in that department.

Now that I have what I need to be doing covered, I need to work out how I can effectively achieve them all – and this is where time management is most necessary, and where my efforts at it are most futile. I really need to stop being a multi-life Sarah, and be a one-life Sarah, who simply does a few things without actually driving herself crazy. In order to help me navigate through the hours in the day, the days in the week, the weeks in the month and the months in 2010, I have shed myself of my MANY MANY goals, and decided that the above chips can fall where they may, and that I will work extremely hard towards one:

TO FINISH MY NOVEL AND GET A PUBLISHING DEAL OUT OF IT.

Way better than a hundred thousand goals that will never happen, and thus, more likely to be achieved. I certainly hope that this will pan out better than previous new years’ goals lists, and that I will work harder at it than my previous resolutions (even though this is not a resolution per se), but considering mthat I will also have to toss planning my wedding into the mix, I am, in all honesty, looking at 2010 a little too optimistically, and perhaps even, with rose-coloured glasses.

And because of this, I wish you’d all make me feel better by divulging your own plans and goals for 2010, and if, like me, you really have to cut, paste, edit, chop and rearrange, in order to fit them in your life and make them more likely to come true. Otherwise, just make me feel better as I try to head into a one-life revolution!

Happy planning xx

A Wednesday Mix of Style, Smarts & Savoir-Faire

Hey hey Wordsmith Laners, I decided to run the Wordsmith Weekly on a Wednesday today. I felt I could add more style, smarts and savoir-fare to the mix today, when I have experienced a little more life and love. Enjoy my pointless ranting!

• The funds in my bank account become endangered everytime I venture near a T2 store. It’s usually because of their tea wares — beautiful china cups, ornate saucers and the prettiest and most various array of teapots I have ever seen down under. I recently walked out with a Christmas gift (not to myself, though I wish it was) and a packet of Turkish Chunky Apple tea ($13 for 100g) which is deliciously sweet even if I am drinking it wrong (and by that I mean I am eating the big bits, then drinking the water). I also walked out with a crush on a new soup-size tea cup and large saucer ($22) which I hope to return and purchase, as well as a curious craving for Licorice Legs tea. Apparently it is quite good for your immune/digestive system and a sweet but healthy alternative to dessert, which of course, will work wonders on my sweet tooth. Any restraining orders, now matter how fictional, will be more than beneficial at this point.
• Speaking of sweet teeth, I had to physically restrain myself yet again from a cupcake from Cupcakes on Pitt. Not that I usually do much restraining when an after-lunch treat is concerned, but considering I had two dollops of custard and some biscuits earlier, and the fact that I still have a serving of jelly to attend to, I think I can do without. Plus there’s a block of Cadbury Fruit & Nut in my desk drawer, which means I am treading on some very dangerous blood sugar waters.
• I need help in convincing myself that the gorgeous, cropped blue-leather Kennedy Jacket in Kookai is not worth buying. At $380, it has top place on my Christmas wish-list. To give you a full indication as to the gravity of the situation, here are the pro’s I have endowed it with not even half an hour after meeting: The fact that it is cropped makes it a great night-time addition to a summer party dress; the fact that it is my most favourite colour in the world means it was clearly meant for my having; It’s Kennedy style name evokes a Camelot dream for the likes of the history lover and Jackie-O adorer in me, and its teeny, tiny buttons have an old-school feel. Oh how can I count the ways of this love of many magnitudes when I count the cents in my pocket?
• I am having a sort of impromptu presentation to ALL THE STAFF from the Sydney Uni Media Department this week, and I am freaking out. I say impromptu because as I understood it, it was going to be a one-day affair in which I interviewed with the Chair about my progress so far, any struggles I am facing and so on and so forth. However, I received an email last week saying that in addition to this, they will also require me to present a synopsis of a chapter, or a presentation on a methodological or structural problem I am facing, on an entirely separate day. I am so nervous and not too inclined to participate. I’ll be having some mad presentation rehearsals tonight, that’s for sure!
• Not long ago, I wrote about how much I enjoyed the musical Wicked (and evidently, I am not the only one, considering the fact that an additional 60,000 or so tickets have just gone on sale – catch it quick!) so you can imagine my joy at stumbling across this flimsy, but pretty, little singlet at chain store Supre. Love the bright red ruby slippers. I’ll be pairing this with shiny black Sass & Bide jeans, red platform shoes from London, some simple, layered silver chains, and my Chanel tote. Red nails essential. (PS – For those of you enquiring about my engagement ring, you can see a little bit of it in this shot. Gorgeous, huh? I was very spoiled!)
• As you are all aware, I normally dream about Paris or Santorini when I need a getaway. But at the moment, and for some bizarro reason considering I have never been there, all I keep thinking about is NYC. In fact, I keep checking out NYC Lonely Planet guides on eBay (my, my those guides are pricey when you’re budgeting). I think it’s because my fiance (James, FYI) will probably enjoy that place more than the aforementioned destinations. Oh wow, I am already becoming selfless. The prospect of marriage becomes me ;p
• And on a rather exciting NYC topic, Gossip Girl Season Three, returned to Aussie screens yesterday on Fox 8. I spent the entire show bemoaning the Serena Van Der Woodsen character (oh, how I tire of her attention-seeking ways and her pouty actions that make her all the more ripe for the pickings of all sorts of men) and lusting after a Blair Waldorf outfit. Did anyone notice the shoes she was wearing with that cropped, embellished/embroidered shirt dress? I nearly died. If anyone finds out what they are, notify me immediately. Not that I can afford them, of course. I nearly had a heart attack while watching last night, on account of the fact that I thought Mr Bass was already cheating on her (I’m a sucker for bad boys gone good), and I wondered immediately what evil plans she would set in place to ensure his redemption. But alas, none was to take place…as of yet.
• Speaking of redemption, those who find it scintillating in their fiction, along with the promises of love and forgiveness and finding oneself, would love award-winning novelist Justion Cartwright’s latest offering, To Heaven By Water (Bloomsbury/Allen&Unwin, $32.99). It’s a story of a news anchor who, along with his family, is coming to terms with the death of his wife…and the fact that he cheated on her. Interesting stuff. Love a deep bloke, even if he is a figment of a wordsmith’s imagination.
• Style and Smarts I can do with a little cultivation (I’m talking constant reading and the devoruing of Shop Til You Drop, and Nina Garcia and Rachel Zoe style guides) but Savoir-Faire is an area I’m a little lax in. I realised this when I was standing behind the cake at my engagement party over the weekend, when, faced with about ten cameras flashing (bless my family and friends, they were just being happy for moi) and tons of people speaking at the same time about posing this way and that way and with this person, I nearly had an anxiety attack. I don’t know how I am going to cope on my wedding day (for those of you that don’t know, it is a Lebanese Catholic tradition for the guests on the bride’s side to come to her house and take photos with her before she heads to the chapel to be hitched) but I am thinking of investing in those take-a-ticket-and-wait-till-your-number-is-called mechanisms to minimise fuss and the potential that I will puke on my dress. Then again, it would be pointless considering my people don’t ever believe in waiting turns, and most of them are, essentially, (pardon the news of the moment) queue jumpers.
• I’m fed up with hearing anymore about Tony Abbott being the new Liberal leader. Not that I am phased politically, but because it is yesterday’s news. Move on, people – it’s done!!