What inspired you to write your memoir?
All the inspiration one could ever need came from the countless wonderful (and woeful) experiences throughout 40+ years of farming in two States of Australia—mostly in the last century. The appeals from those we have shared our stories with, to “please, please… write it all down. Write a book… just don’t let these stories die!” was equally inspirational and irresistibly challenging.
About your Book:
‘Brave Beginnings’ is the first of several books in the ‘Old McLarsen Had a Farm’ series. This first book of memoirs contains the stories of an ‘apprenticeship’ on a sheep and cropping farm in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. Almost unbelievable but true stories abound of two ‘city slickers’ learning the ropes, adapting to a simpler life-style (like wood fired stove, 32 volt electricity, the ‘tyranny of distance’, etc.), and raising orphans (like kangaroos, emu chicks, lambs, puppies, goats and pigs). Each story is formed as a chapter, in a ‘stand alone’ fashion for friendly browsing and easy pick up or put down readability.
How did you decide how to publish your book and where is it published through:
I have self-published this first book of the series on Amazon, and paid a Fiverr ‘translator’ to look after the formatting requirements for submission to Smashwords. This platform opens the door to the eBook being published on Barnes and Noble and Scribd, plus others to follow, I believe. Each one of these has the first few chapters available to the public to read as a sample before purchase. I particularly appreciate having full control of these publications, after all the creative effort I have invested.
How do you see writing a Memoir as different from writing other genres of books?
So many memories to sort through… some to laugh at, many to cry for. I am SO appreciative of being in the incredibly fortunate position that most of the ‘crying’ variety are for sentimental reasons—not the painful type. All are so ‘up close and personal’, a delight to remember and relive, complete with all their agonies and ecstasies.
In other genres the author is somewhat removed, able to take off with flights of fancy. I find each have their own special charms.
Author Bio:
If only my Bio could change like my stories. Ahh well, as John Denver sang, ‘Some days are Diamonds, Some days are Stones’—so here we go again.
Christine is a writer, farmer, wife, mother, and grandmother. This end of her life is being most happily spent on a retirement farm in beautiful South Australia, where she writes, and edits, and promotes, and tries to learn the intricacies of the Internet and her beloved (and oft-times brutish) computer.
She has been a Secretary, Lifeline Telephone Counsellor, Community Careworker, and rescuer of all manner of things, like animals, kids, and discarded knitted toys from Op Shops. Christine’s writing pursuits have included lenses on Squidoo (now defunct and articles transferred to HubPages), articles on Ezine Articles, and being a self-published author of eight children’s e-books on Amazon… so far.
This ‘Old McLarsen had some Farms’ series of memoirs has been dancing around the outskirts of her imagination for a long time, with parts coming to fruition in her articles. But this is the true ‘gathering of the clan’ into one place, with one intention—to entertain and educate about another time and place; to share an almost forgotten way of living Life.
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Book On Amazon
Link to Book on Barnes and Noble
Link to Book for sale via Smashwords
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