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It’s really nice to be able to report that I haven’t spent any time in hospital lately!

I have however been quite busy.

Since the last issue, I’ve been accepted to write a regular (quarterly) article for a new magazine that’s about to debut in Australia. The magazine is called Executive PA, and I’m told it has been in the UK for several years.

My first article is due September 1, and it’s almost done. I’m just waiting for a teensy bit of information from an events company. (My article is about themed events.)

Yesterday I sat down and wrote an essay for an anthology, then submitted it. I won’t know until October whether or not my work will be accepted.

I’ve also sent off several query letters – one to a magazine, and another to a publication that’s looking for casual article editors.

I’ve also had a new release – Fiction on the Hop. This is a compilation of short stories with friend, writing buddy, and fellow Australian, Sarah Cook. You can read about it here.

As reported in the last issue, I headed off to Queensland for a writer’s conference on August 10. Leaving home at 4.45am was a bit hard – actually a lot hard! – but I survived it. If I had the time over again, I simply wouldn’t do it, but it was the only flight with available seats for that day. I guess everyone else was heading to the same conference!

The conference went well, although it was a pretty full on. Friday night we had a cocktail party with a Hollywood theme. I was a bit lazy – having to drag everything interstate - and just dressed in an evening gown and shawl, and anyone could have picked a starlet and I would have said yes, that was who I went as.

My friend Sarah Cook dressed as an Oscar to give us some additional publicity for our new website AussieAuthors. It went extremely well, and Stuart McDonald, marketing manager from Harlequin, was intrigued by Sarah’s costume, and also quite interested in our site.

The conference was held Saturday and Sunday, with an awards dinner on Saturday night which finished quite late. Then Sunday morning we had a ‘Pink Breakfast’ in aid of breast cancer, and it was a really early start (7am). This meant I didn’t get much sleep Saturday night.

I was so exhausted after these two events that I went back to my unit after the breakfast and slept for a couple of hours. That meant I skipped some of the morning talks, but I was back in time for the first workshop on Sunday. I was certainly more refreshed, and able to complete the day at the conference.

On Saturday I had an agent appointment. I wanted to pitch two books, so did the right thing and asked if I could. (You’re only supposed to pitch one book.) I absolutely hate these pitch appointments; I’m always extremely nervous. She allowed me to pitch both, and went on to request three chapters of both. To top it off, this US based agent suggested I send it all by email – even better since it costs a fortune to send manuscripts overseas from Australia.

The whole conference was wonderful – the RWAust was lucky enough to secure Debbie Macomber and Jane Porter, amongst many other wonderful speakers such as Australian authors Lillian Darcy, Anne Gracie, Sandy Cummins, and more. Debbie is probably the best speaker I’ve ever had the good fortune to hear, and was a really lovely lady. I had the opportunity to have a short discussion with her at the cocktail party.

I tried to purchase both Debbie and Jane’s books, but they were all sold out at the conference. I did manage to purchase one of Debbie’s books at a bookshop after the conference, so will be reading it with interest.

Once the conference was finished, my writing buddy (Elvina) and I had four whole days to do whatever we pleased. Yay!

I had intended to post a few photos but I'm so pushed for time at the moment and haven't had a chance. I'll endeavour to do this soon, but otherwise will *try* to remember for the next issue.

For a long time now I’ve considered purchasing the Nick Daws Writing Course, mainly because I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. (And you can never learn too much.)

After a discussion on an egroup I belong to, I went ahead and purchased it. The CD arrived today, and I hope to have time to sit down and use it in the next two or three weeks. (I’m absolutely snowed under with deadlines right now.) When I have used the program for a while and can give an informed review of it, I will do so.

In the meantime, I signed up for the fr^ee writing course offered at the site, and although I’ve only received about three lessons so far, have found it very useful. I urge you to do the same – after all, you’ve got nothing to lose. Here’s the link (Grab it now – I have no idea how long this will be offered for fr^ee.)

While I have your attention, I want to tell you about a new scam that’s going around. Yes, I know, enough scams already!

Surprise, surprise, this is another PayPal scam. Three days ago I received an email from PayPal Australia. It addressed me personally, which is unusual for scams, and said I’d made enquiries about starting a new PayPal account.

It just so happens that I’d received a (legitimate) customer satisfaction survey from PayPal just a couple of days beforehand, so assumed it was a follow-up from that. Anyway, the same day the email from "PayPal" arrived, I received a phone call from the author of the email. Since I was out at the time he left his number - a Sydney-based number - for me to call. I thought it rather strange since they normally give out 1800 numbers. (These are free calls in Australia.)

I was a little bit wary about this email, so sent it off to PayPal’s spoof address for verification. And you guessed it; the email did not come from PayPal. As a result of my email to them, PayPal are currently investigating this new form of scam to get people’s PayPal login details.

So, if you receive any emails from PayPal (or anywhere for that matter) that you’re absolutely not certain are genuine, follow up. To report suspicious emails to PayPal, send to spoof@paypal.com and send them the header details. They can be found by going to your inbox, right clicking and selecting options, then select all, and finally, copy.

Now hit ‘forward’ to send the original email to PayPal, and paste those details into the email with a short note.

My advice is to never click on any link you receive from "PayPal". Instead, type the details in your browser yourself. This goes also for banks, Amazon, and so on. All these businesses have been hit by scammers, and loads of people are having their identities stolen as a result. Identity theft is big business these days, and has been made so much easier with the Internet.

(Don’t these people have anything better to do?)

As a matter of fact, I’ve been receiving emails that say an attachment has been sent by the webmaster of www.cheryl-wright.com, or www.writer2writer.com – since I’m the webmaster, I know for certain I didn’t send it. (If you receive anything that says it’s from me or any of my sites, please totally ignore it unless I’ve specifically sent an email notifying you I will do so. More often than not I send links, not attachments anyway.

I've decided to try something new this month - writing prompts - and have included one in this month's issue. (Please do not send your work along, as it won't be read. The purpose of this is to kick start your writing, not to get feedback.)

Writing Prompt contributions are welcome, and will be credited.

Okay, onto this month's issue:  Markets Round Up will not be published this month as Deborah Ng is on holidays, Beth Morrow has reviewed Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple by Martha Alderson, M.A. - which sounds like yet another good book, and Judy Bagshaw has completed her two part article Common Mistakes New Romance Writers Make: and how to fix them!

This month we also have a guest article.  Karolina Blaha-Black has written an extremely informative article about writing scams.  I have to admit, I'd never heard of this particular scam, so was particularly grateful to Karolina for bringing it to my attention.  I'm sure you will be too.  (Grrrrrr, I'm so sick of scammers!)

Okay, that's our issue for this month, so sit back, relax with your favourite beverage, and enjoy!

Til next time…

Cheryl

Contact details:

mailto:cheryl@writer2writer.com

http://www.writer2writer.com

Cheryl Wright, P O Box 913, Springvale South 3172 AUSTRALIA