Sherryl Caulfield's Blog

1 autographed paperback
1 ebook (so you can read on the go or share with a friend)
a $30 iTunes voucher so you can download some of the wonderful Canadian songs that were part of my writing experience
Plus a bottle of Vodka made from the Greenland icebergs that flow down the coast of Newfoundland

Total value approximately $150.

Imagine sitting on Rebecca’s verandah in Newfoundland, scanning the horizon for icebergs, reading Come Full Circle, listening to Jane Siberry and sipping vodka. Hopefully this prize pack comes close.

To ENTER you simply need to:

Go to my Facebook page and
Leave a comment on my competition post as to why you would love to win – it will be going up tonight and will be the first post, pinned to the top of my page. That will count as 1 entry point.

Earn extra entries by:

Tagging a friend
Liking my page
Sharing a post. (There will be regular posts)
Or tweeting about my book. My Twitterhandle is @ShezCaulfield

All entries will be collated and the winner randomly drawn and announced on my Facebook page and blog.

The competition is open worldwide till midnight Sunday 20 December (Hawaii time).

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Published on December 09, 2015 23:10

Where Eagles Soar

One Easter I spent all my spare time, when I wasn’t rock climbing, reading The Stonor Eagles. We were in Namadgi National Park just outside Canberra climbing the expansive granite slabs of Booroomba. The lovely Margaret Mortimer, intrepid travel guide, champion scone maker, could see I was so taken with this story that she insisted on cooking breakfast around our campfire for my partner Mark and myself, so I could keep on reading. (It’s difficult to read when you are at the bottom of a crag belaying someone.)

The Stonor Eagles is about Cuillin, last of the great sea eagles of Skye, who in her loneliness flies to Scandinavia in search of a mate. Eagles live well into their sixties and hers is a fascinating character and tale.

Shortly thereafter we were in Perth for work with a week-end off to explore the scenic and gourmet delights of the region. We ventured south to the stunning kauri trees of Cape Leeuwin and the famed Margaret River wineries, however the highlight of the trip – by far – was not easy glasses of mellow chardonnay, but a fledgling (pardon the pun) bird of prey rehabilitation centre, Eagle Heritage.

These days they have an entry fee. Back then, the softly-spoken owner, who reminded me of my brother, Greg, only asked for a donation. That day we dug deep into our pockets for we were in awe of what he was trying to accomplish. He was rehabilitating eagles and raptors from all over the vast Australian continent. He had struck up an arrangement with the now defunct Ansett Airlines to transport injured birds to him from anywhere in Australia. He was working with local farmers to obtain any carrion or road kill that they came across, trying to educate them that raptors did not kill live animals. The cages he had built for each eagle were considerable, easily 25 metres long and 6 metres high, so birds could coast and flap their wings from one roost to the other. Every dollar this chap made he poured into this park for his beloved birds. That Friday we were the only people there and we didn’t want to leave. We watched him as released birds that would fly into a tall gum tree then fly down to snatch a piece of meat out of his trusting hand, while I stood only two metres away. I got to pull on heavy-duty leather gloves and carry around a black kite roosting on my wrist (no sudden movements). It was surprising how heavy she was. (In the movies they make that look so easy.) When we finally drove away, part of me wanted to stay behind and be a part of his extraordinary venture.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself in the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia. Haida Gwaii as it’s known in the Haida language, has the highest density of Bald Eagles in the north American continent. You can’t help but notice them. They’re perched on wharf posts like sentinels guarding some ancient realm.

And so when I came round to writing Come Full Circle, set in British Columbia, these two experiences merged and two of my characters, Lindsay, and newcomer, Ryan, shares my love of eagles. Here’s a sneak peak:

Off to starboard was the low-lying, densely forested landscape of Graham Island. Like Canada, the mountains of the Queen Charlotte Islands were on the west coast; the tops of a submerged range that plummeted into the ocean and a few kilometers offshore gave way to the continental shelf that dropped off even more dramatically to unknown depths. This side had the shallow sea but to Lindsay there was nothing shallow about it.

‘The original name for the Queen Charlottes was Xaadala Gwayee,’ Ryan said. ‘Islands on the boundary between two worlds: the sea and the sky.’

The name couldn’t be more apt. From her vantage point the island was like a long thin magnetic band that pulled the sky and the sea together. Today that sky was a warming blue, the sea a calm green blue, the island the result of their rapturous union: the silhouetted spires of cedar and pine and hemlock their climactic sonograph. Was it a land old and untouched or was it new?

Before long there was an announcement asking them to return to their vehicle. Once they’d docked they drove over the boat’s metal ramp, shuddering onto the island. But rather than vibrations what they felt was a sense of wonder. Perched casually on two of the pier’s wooden poles, almost like centurions vetting new arrivals, were two bald eagles.

‘Where else in the world would you see such a sight?’ Lindsay whispered in awe.

‘Nowhere,’ grinned Ryan.

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Published on May 12, 2015 02:02

5 autographed books in birthday bash

Seldom Come By on Tour

I’m so excited to be touring the blogosphere with Seldom Come By to mark the first anniversary of its release. The tour kicks off today – 24 November – and will include 17 stops across the United States, England and Australia, ending on 13 December, Seldom Come By’s first in market birthday.

As part of this tour I am giving away 5 autographed copies of Seldom Come By. This competition is open internationally and you can enter here.

Some of the tour hosts will be giving away ebooks as well. The tour includes an incredible interview with a woman after my own heart, Jorie, and two guest posts at Let Them Read Books and The Eclectic Reader (Details below). I also want to thank Teddyree from The Eclectic Reader for introducing me to the wonderful Amy from Passages to the Past and Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours.

Amy hails from Georgia, USA, and has worked tirelessly for several weeks in pulling this tour together. Huge thanks and love to you, Amy.

So please come by every day to read reflections and reviews on Seldom Come By, meet some fabulous bloggers, talk about Seldom Come By and generally have a neat time! I’ll post a link up on my Facebook page each day so you know who to visit!

Monday, November 24

Review at Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Wednesday, November 26

Review & Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Thursday, November 27

Review at Book Nerd

Friday, November 28

Review at Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, December 1

Review at Shelly’s Book Shelves

Spotlight at Boom Baby Reviews

Tuesday, December 2

Review at 100 Pages a Day – Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Wednesday, December 3

Spotlight at Mina’s Bookshelf

Thursday, December 4

Guest Post at The Eclectic Reader

Friday, December 5

Review at Feminist Reflections

Saturday, December 6

Review at With Her Nose Stuck In A Book

Monday, December 8

Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Spotlight at Historical Fiction Connection

Tuesday, December 9

Guest Post at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, December 10

Spotlight at Caroline Wilson Writes

Friday, December 12

Review & Giveaway at Curiouser and Curiouser

Saturday, December 13

Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

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Published on November 23, 2014 15:07

Bloggerversary

This week my website is one year old and I celebrate my first year as an ad-hoc blogger, and, soon, my first year as a published author.

Was the experience what I expected? Did I even know what to expect? While I’ve been circling the book industry for many years and been a marketer for many more, I’m not sure I really did. Still, for those interested, here are my reflections on my first year.

The best parts of being an author

Connecting with readers from all over the world – Brazil, USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand – though sadly no inroads into Newfoundland that I know of. Don’t they know I’m a one-man tourist machine for their province? Don’t they know people are enthralled with icebergs now?

The joy of writing. I don’t write every day as I have too many competing priorities and distractions. Or are they my excuses? I try and carve out blocks in my year to dive into my books. These are the best of times. True bliss. I’m hoping to carve out more time next year and maybe even a new routine.

Reviewers reaching out to help me because they believe in my book. These amazing women were strangers less than 12 months ago. I’m talking about you The Book Bosses, The Eclectic Reader, and Honey Lemon Tea. Thank you for your kind hearts, for shining a light on my stories and for the introductions you made for me.

The worst parts of being an author

Being seriously challenged by the commandment: Thou Shalt Not Covet. Envy is a bit of a foreign concept to me. It’s not something I come up against that often except this year I found myself envying other author’s lifestyles. I’m talking some hugely successful ones. Not envying their success because mostly they completely deserve that. It’s what their success has provided – the luxury of being able to completely devote themselves to their next book for months, even years. To not have to worry about money to cover the every day costs of living. To be able to hop on a plane and go to one intriguing place after another to do research. At Least for Christmas I’m going to New Zealand where my next book after Come Full Circle is set. But I have big dreams for Romania and Samoa and Egypt…The list is long. Maybe I can find a sponsor? Wait, that’s a publisher, right? Multi-book contracts. Drats!

Running a Social Media promotion that was a flop. As in no entries. At all :-( Well that was a good idea – not! Fortunately that didn’t happen that often. But there have been many times when what you think will work doesn’t, and what you think won’t, does. Go figure. The adage: if you build it they will come, doesn’t wash. My approach: Keep focusing on writing books, keep marketing when I can.

Being a klutz with Twitter. I thought I set it up so that anytime anyone mentioned me I would get an email. Obviously not. Please forgive my tardiness in replying, dear readers. Hopefully the situation is all sorted and I’m there more regularly these days.

What get’s readers excited

I have always believed you have to write what’s in your heart, you have to write the story inside you needing to be told. Writing about what’s trendy is a fool’s errand.

I’ve clearly been living a sheltered life. This year I’ve had my eyes opened to the world of flesh marketing. And I’m not sure if this is what’s in so many writers’ hearts and minds or if it’s serving up stories that they believe will sell, for that’s what’s readers’ hearts and minds.

There are a lot of books out there that promote sex and lust. I mean in your face promote. There’s no missing those covers. Some days I feel like I’m wondering through a sweltering Roman bath with no safe place to look. Each to their own. And in some respects it’s great that ebooks have created such a huge market for so many writers in this genre. I never thought of myself as a prude. That’s my mother! Bless her she once added her own graffiti to one of my brother’s posters drawing a bikini on a naked girl draped over a motorbike.

It’s just that I prefer subtlety. For me, more skin does not necessarily equate to undeniable sensuality or romance. Where’s the seduction in that?

I find myself a bit of a misfit, which in some respects is nothing new. I don’t fit the historical fiction bodice ripper mould either. In my books there are no damsels ditching their underwear, no heroines or sisters having their finely threaded laces slashed or yanked apart in front of their brother or lover, nor do my novels culminate in my couples consummating their love and living happily ever after, at least not in the conventional way.

My stories blend romance and family struggles and adventure and ‘oh my god – did that character actually do that!’… not the easiest tales to market, but thankfully something that does seem to appeal to a select number of readers.

How authors help other authors

Over the past year I’ve been inspired by a number of authors – old and new favourites – not just by their writing but by their tenacity, their humility and their gratitude. Indeed this year I discovered that many authors don’t really make it till their fifth book has been published. Sometimes, for others, it’s even further along the publishing journey.

This from Richard Flanagan on his Booker Prize win:

I’ve got wonderful publishers in Australia and I’ve got many readers in Australia, but, when you only – you know, when it takes so long to write a book, things can become (financially) difficult. But I don’t think it does to complain about it at all, Leigh, because no-one asks you or expects you to be a writer, it’s something you choose. And if so, if you’ve been lucky enough to be allowed to keep on going back to the table, as I have been for, you know, the best part of 25 years, you just have to be grateful and sometimes you just scrape through and sometimes, like today, I’ve been extraordinarily lucky.

Please note: I am not harbouring any aspirations re The Booker Prize, but I do concur that attitude and luck and gratitude have something to do with success in this vocation. So in that vein, let me leave you with my Top 5 Gratitudes.

1. Reviews

I’m grateful for every review – even the not so great ones, which thankfully have been few and far in between. On Monday this week I got a 1 star review (my first) with the response: just not worth it. Hookay. On the same day I got a 5 star review. See, it’s random and at times fickle. The only yardstick for me are the averages. On Goodreads I’m sitting on 4.4 stars for Seldom Come By and 4 stars for Come What May – I take heart from that even though it’s very early days because reviews do help authors like me get discovered. However, there is a caveat that I discovered at The Brisbane Writers Festival. Often there has to be a set number of reviews before some discerning readers will take any notice. Anyone care to enlighten me on the number?

I’m grateful for the readers and reviewers who are voracious readers and favourably compare my books to traditionally published authors. I was tired of being blocked by agents and publishers and wanted to put my books out in the market to see if readers would enjoy them. To know that you enjoy my stories and are keen to read more means the world to me. That, and the joy of writing, keep me going when some days I feel like going, ‘Oh, well, I tried. Obviously I don’t have what it takes.’

2. Supporters

I’m grateful for the women – and men – who regularly join me on Facebook and let me know you like popping by. Thank you dear people xo.

3. Family

I’m grateful that my brother of all people really loved Seldom Come By. I’m grateful that after my Mum read it, it opened up conversations we’d never had before.

4. My partner

I’m grateful for my partner Mark, his delight in my small wins and his perspective, particularly on days when I see my glass being half empty, and he reminds me that it’s half full and what’s more, the water is like the beautiful mountain spring water we had in our home in New Zealand, which very few people ever get to taste.

5. You

I’m grateful that you read to the end of this post. Seriously, well done. It was much longer than I intended it to be. Leave a comment and you’ll go in the draw to win my second novel, Come What May. Either a print book or 2 ebooks so you can share one with a friend. Competition is open internationally. I’ll announce the winners on 20 November.