Tag Archives: writers

Hello Friends

December 17, 2020 tribalmysticstories, lazylittlefrog.com 13 Comments

Thank you for being so kind and patient with me on my Tribalmystic Stories blog. It has been a life changing year for all of us.

I wish you all a safe and Merry Christmas and a better, hopefully more normal (and what’s normal these days?) year in 2021. Even if we keep asking ourselves this question, I’m very hopeful and I hope you are too.

My sincere condolences to those that have lost loved ones during this horrible period with COVID19. May peace, blessings and love touch your hearts. What is looming will continue to affect us all and we go into the uncertainty once more as we head into the new year. Writing is a beautiful way to soothe the mind and feed the soul. I love the places I visit when I’m creating and writing stories.

I pray there will be more loving, kind and understanding between each of us. We are all in this together. To my old blogging friends and subscribers, yes, I’m back to the blog and I will be making art and teaching art right here on WordPress so we can reconnect if you are still around. I welcome any new subscribers and thank you in advance. I’ve written enough to get a book out of the memoir stories, but there is more writing yet… (and that is another story). I look forward to your spirited comments and discussions on my future posts between now and going into 2021. I feel it will be a powerful year. Let’s commit to what makes us happy and treasure every moment of now.

This is a brief post to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for your continued support. This image will be the banner for my new creative learning blog and website. I’m close to launching and will run the blog simultaneously with my Tribalmystic Stories blog. Wish me luck!

About Me, Life, Living, Nature and Climate Change, Nature and Environment, Stories, Women, writing

The Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award

December 23, 2014 tribalmysticstories, lazylittlefrog.com 7 Comments

I want to sincerely thank MillieThom for nominating my blog, Tribalmystic, for, The Sisterhood of World Blogger Award. Millie is the author of Shadow of The Ravens. Millie makes history sound like hot romance. She writes about various subjects with many fascinating historical content, and that’s why I enjoy her blog.

Once again, the show of kindness is deeply touching. Thank you Millie, fellow bloggers, friends and readers for supporting this blog.

The Sisterhood of World Bloggers Award

Five rules to follow:

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site.
Put the Award logo on your blog.
Answer the ten questions sent to you.
Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
Nominate seven blogs.

Ten Answers About Me

1. What do you like best about blogging?

I love the writing or storytelling in blogging. This becomes more valuable with the responses I get from the readers and respect from the blogging community. I also love reading and learning from other writers/bloggers. I am driven to seek new or interesting stories for my readers. These stories can be humanitarian news, environment and nature stories, inspiring human stories or stories about beautiful things.

I enjoy writing fiction, but on this blog, most of my stories are about life. I love writing about my culture and heritage and that helps maintain my sense of identity. I also understand the greater world we live in, therefore, I cannot ignore the realities of cruelty and poverty; what we humans do to one another. As a victim of violence myself, I want to see an ending to violence against women, children and the helpless – so I write about these topics. When I feel something is not right when I am reading an article, I share the post or write about it too. My passion goes beyond mankind. It includes other living things in the ocean and all nature. Blogging about the real and the living is the least I can do. Many risk their lives every day to fight for what is right, or to save other lives. I can only do it with my keyboard and posts on this blog, from the safety and comforts of my home.

2. If you could visit any place in the world, where would that place be and why?

I would like to go to Zanzibar, Africa one day. I would learn to dance like the Zanzibar women. Sounds crazy? Well, in 1998, I was in World Festival for Island Cultures in Cheju Island, Korea. I was pregnant with my second son. In a very rhythmic performance, I saw large women from Zanzibar dancing at the festival like I had never seen before. They were big and heavy but so light on their feet and movements. It was incredible. I come from the islands and we dance, but not like this. From that day, I thought, I would like to go there and learn to dance like that. I am sure, the music ran through these women like their own blood. I tried to learn while on Cheju but my stomach was in the way. This trip is on my bucket list.

3. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

I would like to change my pace of doing things – from fast to slow. I feel sometimes that I need to slow down and relax. I do not sleep enough. Writing is helping me to slow down, sit and think more than I have ever done in my life.

4. List 3 things that you are proud of doing / having done.

Being a mother.
Standing up for Women’s Rights.
Being a Climate Change activist

5. What was your favourite subject at school, and why did it appeal so much?

I have never had one particular subject appeal to me – I loved many. I really enjoyed Maths and History apart from Arts, Philosophy and Literature. I loved problem solving and satisfying my curiosity. I enjoy old stories and understanding meaning of life. Social science and Geography were fun too. I could be in nature and interact with insects, animals and also people.

6. Is there any particular environmental issue that causes you concern?

What deeply concerns me is Climate Change and sea level rise in small Pacific Island nations, less than two metres above sea level. These islands will be lost soon. I would like the developed countries to lend their ears to hear us. Help us work together for a better planet for our future generation. It is not only about us sinking. We only have Earth to live on. Our earth deserves better treatment. In Australia, Prime Minister, Tony Abbott announced last week, his proudest and best decision he made was to reverse the climate policy. Two days ago, he employed a climate skeptic. The ignorance and denial of developed countries such as Australia is shameful.

7. What is your favourite childhood memory?

Being in the swamp, catching fish with my grandmother was what we did daily, for our food. One day, my grandma and I went to town with almost $5. She made this money from selling betel nut. She told me, she felt like eating bread so we went to town. It was a long walk and then a bus ride. We headed for the bakery in Lae City (Papua New Guinea). Grandma bought a whole loaf of white, unsliced bread; still hot and straight out of the bakery oven. The smell of the bread was unbelievable. Hugging the hot bread, I walked with grandma to the supermarket and she used the change to buy a tub of butter. Then we searched for a shady tree and she broke the loaf in half. She told me, it was half each.

“Eat it all” she said.

We dipped the halves in butter and ate the whole thing under the shade of a tree in the middle of Lae town. Bread was a treat. We never had that in the village. I cannot believe how much I ate that day. I can still smell the bread, 40 years later.

8. Who is your favourite character in a novel or film and why do you like them so much?

I love too many. One worthy of note is the common decency and friendship developed in Shawshank Redemption. I loved it because life has a way of rewarding us if we listen and feel more. Sometimes, because of our own perceptions, we miss the truth, opportunities and friendships.

9. What is your greatest ambition in life?

To teach more about LOVE by showing more LOVE. Hopefully it will grow and help others feel the same way.

10. What is the biggest compliment you have ever had?

I have been told that I am a good listener. That compliment is a kind one because, I am a very good talker too. I believe that being a good listener, takes skill. I hope they are right.

I have chosen these sister blogs because I really enjoy reading them, and I learn a lot from the writers. Some of these ladies make me laugh and I really like that because life is not all about being serious.

5. Poetheart

Ten questions to nominees

What makes you want to blog?
What inspires you in life?
What are your three favourite things and why?
What is the most important thing you have ever done?
Describe where you would like to live in the future and why?
What do you miss most?
Is there something special you would really like to do for someone and what is it?
Do you have a lucky charm? Tell us about it.
Have you or anyone close to you had a near-death experience? What happened?
Name one thing you would like to do to change the world, if you could and how would you do that.

Stories, writing

The Australian Government and the ABC – A Christmas Special

December 19, 2014 tribalmysticstories, lazylittlefrog.com 5 Comments

I am sharing this post for friends and writers in Australia and others who follow the work of the ABC. The article was posted by the Australian Society of Authors today.

The Government and the ABC – A Christmas Special

In the ricochet of the Abbott government’s $254 million, 5% cut to the ABC over five years, it has been announced that more than 300 ABC staff would lose their jobs over the next period.

Impacts on Australian writers.

This will have a serious impact on writers. Among the departures will be people who create scripts, intros, narrative, jokes, segues, back-announces and such other incidentals that radio and television production need. Producers, program makers, presenters, commissioning editors – many of whom wield precious word skills to produce ‘content’ – will also be eliminated.

We express sympathy and solidarity with salaried or contract staff who will find themselves terminated – but equal sympathy must go to the freelance writers who have relied on the meagre copyright or broadcast fees payable for use of their work.

The proposed closure of Poetica, Mike Ladd and Krystyna Kubiak’s long-standing program celebrating and supporting poetry in Australian life, is a further betrayal of the national broadcaster’s Charter, which includes: “… programs that contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community …”

Poetica

Poetica has run every week since February 1997 bringing poetry to a mainstream audience on ABC Radio National. From this program alone it appears that 9 out of 18 producers – i.e. writers – are to be sacked. At its peak Poetica reached 90,000 listeners per week, with many more via the internet.

Poetica made 900 programs, 60% of which featured contemporary Australian poets. It brought their work to a wide audience and provided the poets with some much-needed income through the fees paid for broadcast. Their publishers benefitted through some exposure. And booksellers reported a rise in enquiries and sales of the poetry titles featured.

In the absence of a dedicated poetry program with its own timeslot and separate website, assurances that poetry will continue to be featured on Radio National are merely a sop.

Poetica is one of many culturally valuable writing-centred programs to have been axed in recent years; others include The Book Reading and Short Story. It appears that this latest is a ‘specialist’ program of a kind that no longer lies within the brief of the broadcaster – or if it does, is not worth paying for.

Despite the ABC Charter, ABC programmers more and more ignore the need to respond to and facilitate ‘special interests’. If the ABC does not actively and vigorously support such an interest as literary creativity – something that is central to education and the nation’s intellectual life and arts – what exactly does it support?

The ABC’s efforts to ape the styles and motives of commercial media and internet organisations are meanwhile risible. 100 people are to go from News and Current Affairs to fund a $20 million digital investment program and 70 new digital jobs, suggesting it will now seek new space in a highly competitive online environment, with no guarantee of further reach or loyal audiences.

The ASA accuses the ABC of ill-informed, uncaring behaviour and helping to send writers broke. Shame on ABC management and shame on its political masters.

About Me, Life, Living, My Art, Painting, Stories, Women, writing

One Lovely Blog Award

November 20, 2014 tribalmysticstories, lazylittlefrog.com 3 Comments

THANK YOU MILLIE THOM

Blogging is isolated and lonely. I am not writing in a newsroom where I can see writers and editors bustling in a typical newsroom I knew. In a newsroom, I could discuss my story with an editor or another fellow writer, or work with a photographer. In this blogger-world sometimes I feel, I am alone. I am reaching out to someone, somewhere, whom my story may appeal to. My story is like fresh bait on a hook, dropped in the middle of the deep, dark ocean. I want the right fish to bite the hook, not any fish. So, the ‘bait’ has to be right. But how do I know if the bait is right? As writers, we don’t. Well I don’t, not 100 per cent anyway. Unless, we get feedback, research data and see some kind of recognition, we really don’t know if what we write is appreciated.

When my site-visit numbers were increasing recently, there were very few comments and ‘likes’ on each post. I have to admit, I felt doubt. I wondered why I would have many people visit my blog each day, and not interact. I would visit the few writers that “liked’ my post and be astounded by how many followers and hits they have had. I searched through their contents. What makes this blog great?, I asked myself. Some blogs were interesting and it made sense as to why they would have such an audience. Others did not make sense at all – they were just popular. Like everything else, it really does not matter what you write and how you write it. That ‘bait’ will catch the reader that was meant for it. You have to catch your own niche market. I learnt, and told myself only to worry about my next story.

In the background, I did do some content research, adjusted my theme, and the layout. I took a course on content and UX with Open University and shortened my posts. (This post will not be one of those short ones). I kept on writing; refusing to use popular social networks to get my readers – or lure people who knew me. I covered most topics I loved and cared about. The risk was, that I could lose readers because of the varied topics. I borrowed some hints from Opinionated Man. Jason could scratch himself and blog it to get 400 “likes”. He was always true to himself. I enjoyed his narrative posts the most. I kept writing about the things I loved or believed in. It is real. So, my readership doubled in a month. And, somewhere in that increased number, someone connected with my content. My bait was taken.

500390d41dcbfa1b3d5db8a5d657f054 — I won’t call her the right bait but a friend.

On November 2, a stranger appeared on my blog. She was wearing a China-red dress/top, armed with a natural straw hat with a black band that mysteriously and securely hid her face. I saw this picture after I received the first message from WordPress. It said: “millithom liked your post”. I have had other “likes’ before so I paid no notice. I thought I would follow-up and view each respond when I had time in the evening. Then there was another ‘like” and another, by the same person. I immediately visited millithom’s blog and was very impressed with what she wrote. I learnt a lot from her. As an aspiring author myself, I was impressed with her book posts on writing in general and helpful advise on publishing. I was really grateful that she could relate to my post and COMMENT! On that same day, after the fourth “like”, millithom was hooked, I think. I say that with no malice. I got a notification that she started “following” me. It was the kind of ‘stalking’ that every blogger loves. The baited hook was taken by that fish. Each day since, this woman I have never seen her face except in an old photo, warmly responds to all my posts. She also writes very encouraging and heart-felt comments. For me and any writer or any blogger who is starting and ‘afraid’, we all need a millithom to put that hope into our doubting minds. I have mine. I also have L.T.Garvin, Poetheart! and Seafarrwide. There is a kind of sisterblog-hood going.

Thank you Millie Thom, blogger, author (Shadow of the Raven), with a gorgeous heart for nominating me for this award. It means a lot to me. I will continue to strive to keep the content of Tribalmystic blog interesting. Thank you Millie, my followers, and returned readers and I would appreciate any feedback to improve this blog. I also appreciate the quiet ones. Your silence and presence are both appreciated and acknowledged.

Wine women and watercolours 264 — Self-portrait. JLeahy, Acrylics & Inks on canvas. 2012.

Seven Lovely Things…

As requested by the conditions of this award, I have to tell you seven “lovely” things about me. Ahhhumm.. (I asked my sons and my colleague today) and they made some comments I shall not repeat; so I have to do this task the best I can.

1. I am a queen of surprises. (I am that confident). Even after all these years, I can still surprise my sons in their ‘older age’, family members and friends. I love the intrigue. I love mysteries. I love how happy I make them.

When I was growing up, the children in my village used to call me a spirit. I was lighter skinned but had tanned from hours in the sun. I had straight hair which was blonde from swimming in the sea every day. All that time, I thought I was black. The children kept telling me, I was white. I think it is lovely to be both.
I easily make friends with strangers and people from all walks of life. I could connect and have a deep conversation with a stranger, that I had just met. It scares my children.
I love nature. The Ocean, forest, and all life forms. I believe that Earth is in danger. We should all be seriously concerned about what is happening in climate change and each make a commitment to do something about it.
I am who I am because I am the thread that runs in the fabric created by my mother, grandmother and my people.
I love stories – telling and hearing.