Author Talk Coffs Harbour Library

On Saturday 1st August I had the opportunity to do an Author Talk at the Coffs Harbour Library at Yarilla Place.

We had about 48 people that attended which was such a great turn out, my biggest yet, so I was very humbled and excited that people wanted to come out and hear more about The Sawmillers Daughter.

And keeping with Tradition at all my events we did the Sentence Game. Where I ask all attendees to write a sentence and then I can put it into a short story, I get really excited and inspired when I get home from my event to read what people have put down as their sentence and it always challenges me as I want to make it special and unique.

So, please see below Coffs Harbour Library Author Talk Sentenece Story:

I wonder what everyone is up to today, yesterday was such an amazing day at the library. I sit with my cup of tea and look as the sun starts to rise, my thoughts flow softly like the breeze.

              The Eastern Dorrigo has held so many memories for people, some comments that were made still resonated with me such as, one lady commented that she longed for Ulong, and the days gone past, the clouds, so close and low that you could almost touch them and the Melody Theatre, which ironically I heard from a bloke at the Ulong club that the Melody Theatre had recently sold for such a cheap amount I was astounded,

However, Caramba is the place where my heart and soul meet, it was good to be able to discuss these places that held a special place in my heart in days gone by.

One lady told of how she remembered the cold frosty mornings running to the little community shop to buy sugar and biscuits before going to the little school that just had the one teacher.

Most of the little towns that the author talked about such as Cascade, Briggsvale had those little schools, which were no longer there now.

So many childhood memories of the sawmill days that people had shared sounded like such great times, there was a lot of people that had that shared experience, I heard one conversation between two gentleman discussing old sawmills in that area and one man said excitedly,

“Yes, that’s where Nailons Mill used to be,” and you could see the joy in his eyes as he reminisced, the lady next to him smiled and said,

“Good old Dorrigo, There are so many stories in the walls of the pubs in Dorrigo,” and this made everyone laugh.

I enjoy being around like-minded people as sometimes I fear to succumb to the loneliness within.

I had a wonderful time in Sydney last weekend seeing the Lion King, it was the third time I’d seen it, but it was just as exciting.

I was determined that my family structure remained intact no matter what.

As I watch the sunrise, I can feel the warmth starting to radiate, and I am determined on laying in the backyard reading today, as the sky is clear blue not a cloud in sight.

I think about my family, they are so important to me, and doing history research is essential, I want to leave a legacy for my family but really don’t know where to start.

I’d taken one of those Flyers the author had on the table about Writing your History and Leaving a Legacy and decide I’m going to do that, as It’s something I’d been thinking about lately, so that must have been a sign.

But what must come first? I think.

Coming back to Coffs after such a loss has brought joy back to my life, I’m learning that when times are wrong and I feel a bit macabre that thinking of the beaches in Coffs Harbour help me.

I decide to go for a walk to the beach to clear my head.

I pull up at the carpark at the beach and look out at the ocean, there is something about water that calms me.

A gannet wheels through the sky and suddenly speared into the sparkling water, I love these warm sunny days.

I breath in the ocean air, so crisp and clear, I remember my Nan used to say to me,

“Always take the time to smell the roses,” Thinking about her makes me smile.

I hear the squark of a Seagull, my Nan loved birds and she would always reminisce about birds and their sounds in the bush,

              “Where have the Green Catbird and the Rufous Scrub bird gone?” she would ask, as she loved their sounds the best.

I walked down to the beach.

Tashi ran up the beach ahead of me, she loved being at the beach, I smiled watching her, she came back towards me proudly carrying an empty Sharks egg in her mouth,

              “What have you got there,” I bend down and take it out, wow I hadn’t seen one of these in such a long time.

Life is so beautiful I think to myself, I now knew the reason why I had to drag myself out of bed this morning. I take a deep breath in.

              I think about the lady I met yesterday, such a remarkable woman, she had said to me,

              “I’m a vintage of 45, born in Central West NSW in the town of Dubbo, it’s the best town in the west,” she said to me, and I was shocked cause she was doing well for her age; she was stunning.

I stopped walking to look out across the ocean again, it was another perfect winter day in paradise, my head was clear and I thought I might have a fire tonight in the backyard.

You can’t beat the warmth and atmosphere of an open fire, either indoors or outdoors.

That night I sat in the backyard and looked up at the stars, we had a row of tree’s surrounding our house,

I looked at the tress but this time I saw them, there will not always be tree’s if we log like they did in the early days of colonisation, I thought.

I suddenly felt the mist on my cheeks and decided that I probably needed to get inside before it cold to frosty.

I walked into the house, and I sneezed when I walked into the room, hopefully I wasn’t getting a cold.

I decided to do some writing, I had been inspired by the author talk yesterday, I had a title name already picked out, “My brother of many Names” I now just needed to put pen to paper and make it happen.

It was so true that the written word is very powerful, and writing was indeed a cathartic experience, I started to write and the words just came so easily.

The energy in the room was electric, and I was overjoyed being able to express myself through words, I was in my own zone, writing history, and Australian history is amazing and so special, and hopefully what I would write would be read and kept for all Australians.

              Elliot watched from the outside of the study as she sat at her desk, it made him smile that she was writing again, she had obviously found some inspiration yesterday and this made him proud.

              She hadn’t written for a few weeks and he had taken a look secretly at what she had previously wrote and had read it, it was good, she didn’t like anyone to look at her writing until she had finished but he couldn’t help himself, he slipped the key back into the bookshelf, hoping she hadn’t noticed.

              I saw him out the corner of my eye, I knew he’d been sneaking peaks at my writing, and it made me smile,

              Elliot was the biggest champion of my writing, and at the end of the day, I was writing to leave a legacy for him.

The End.

 I hope you all enjoyed that short piece. Thank you to everyone that attended on Saturday.