Putting a Face to this Author

Tips for Writers 5: One Writer’s Journey »

Putting a Face to this Author

July 30, 2011 by Danielle de Valera

Before we go any further, I suppose it would be a good idea to let you put a face to this writer, let you know who you’re dealing with, as it were.

This is one of the few photographs I have in which I look even halfway presentable. It was taken in Brisbane in 2010 (I know it’s almost seven years ago; I’m harder to photograph than a yeti) at the 50th reunion of agricultural scientists who graduated from Queensland University in years in ’58-’62 approximately.

What’s a person with a B. Agr. Sc. and a major in Plant Physiology doing writing fiction and editing/assessing manuscripts? It’s a l-o-n-g story …

For more, click on the About section above. For information about manuscript assessments or editing, please see: http://patrickdevalera.com

and click on Manuscript Development Services in the menu bar.

Posted in Amazon, Amazon KDP, Australian animals, Australian writers, cat lovers, cats, e-books, Far North Coast of NSW, Fiction, fiction authors, Fiction writers, Indie authors, Indie publishing, Kindle, MagnifiCat the novel, manuscript appraisals, Publishing, Short stories, struggling writers, Writing | Tagged Australian animals, Australian authors, Australian editors, Cats, e-books, editing, Editors, Fiction, fiction editors, indie authors, Indie publishing, MagnifiCat the novel, manucript assessments, manuscript appraisals, Patrick de Valera Manuscript Development Services, Publications, Publishing, Writers, Writing | 20 Comments

20 Responses

on August 17, 2011 at 5:52 am | Reply Paul

Picture doesn’t seem to have uploaded…
on November 21, 2011 at 3:33 am | Reply Horror Writing

So what is a person with a B.Agr. Sc. doing assessing manuscripts, hmmm? 🙂
- on November 21, 2011 at 6:45 am | Reply danielledevalera
  
  Golly, HW, I hardly know where to start. When I went to uni at 18 I was reading nothing but English poetry – I more or less stopped at the Edwardians – and Australian poetry – not the verse poets, except for Henry Lawson. But I wasn’t grounded, I was just about floating away. Doing Ag Science probably saved my life. When I finished uni I worked as a botanist for a couple of years, then the writing bug bit me and I stopped work, lived on my savings and wrote a long, out-of-control novel, which by some freak of fate was placed 2nd in the Australia-wide Xavier Society Literary Award. (In those days, there was no Vogel Award for unpublished writers under 30.) The guy who beat me had 6 published novels to his credit so I didn’t do too badly. Where is all this going? Oh, a lot of personal stuff went down, my relationship with Australian poet Michael Sariban broke up and I had 2 children. I abandoned writing for 25 years to raise them. Went to Sydney for my daughter’s schooling and gradually slid into freelance editing and ms assessing – oh, I had worked for The Jacaranda Press at one point in my saga.
  Sorry this is so long, you did ask. This is the condensed (and expurgated) version.
  Best,
  Danielle
  - on November 21, 2011 at 2:23 pm Horror Writing
    
    Thank you, I always like to hear about another writer’s journey. It’s amazing the route some people take!
on December 3, 2011 at 7:46 pm | Reply Doug

You have a great smile.

Regards,
Doug
- on December 3, 2011 at 10:07 pm | Reply danielledevalera
  
  Thanks, Doug. That photo was a real fluke, taken by one of ‘the Ag. boys’ at the lunch.
  Best,
  Danielle
on December 17, 2011 at 2:25 am | Reply contemporaryshaman

Beautiful shot of you 🙂
- on December 17, 2011 at 7:03 am | Reply danielledevalera
  
  Thanks, Odette! As I said to Doug, it was one of those fluke shots snapped at the reunion lunch.
  Best, Danielle x
on December 18, 2011 at 4:04 am | Reply Bunk Strutts

Always fun to see the blogs of folks who show up at mine. Merry Christmas, DdV.
- on March 29, 2012 at 9:27 pm | Reply Danielle de Valera
  
  Would you believe, I only just found your message, Bunk. Too late for Christmas ’11 and too early for Christmas ’12, so – Happy Easter! Hope you have a great break, and thanks for your comment.
on March 26, 2012 at 12:20 am | Reply taureanw

Good to know that after 25 years the love & desire to write never left you!!
on March 26, 2012 at 1:52 am | Reply Danielle de Valera

So you see, you don’t need to worry if your time is currently taken up with your new bundle of joy 🙂
on March 29, 2012 at 5:42 pm | Reply Audrey Kalman

Nice to have a face to go with a name! I just tagged you in the “Lucky 7” Meme on my blog (http://audreykalman.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/the-lucky-7-gift-backing-into-editing/) No pressure to respond or carry on, merely enjoy.
- on March 29, 2012 at 9:25 pm | Reply Danielle de Valera
  
  Thanks, audrey, I’ve only been doing this since around august of 2011, but I’m guessing tagged in someone’s meme is okay! Forgive my lack of digital au fait 🙂 Thanks again. Danielle
  - on March 30, 2012 at 3:10 am Audrey Kalman
    
    It can be a nice way for new readers to discover your blog (not that I have a readership in the thousands—I’ve been blogging about as long as you have—but every little bit helps! And I’m hoping we can SHARE the literary fiction reviews for Nicole’s blog series once you have finished your 40K words.
  - on March 30, 2012 at 7:07 am Danielle de Valera
    
    Thanks, Audrey. As you say, every little helps. Re the reviews, you take as many as you like, I was just worried that Nicole might be stuck.
on October 12, 2012 at 12:26 pm | Reply Shakti Ghosal

Very honest and becoming. Loved the post.

Shakti
on October 12, 2012 at 9:38 pm | Reply Danielle de Valera

Thanks so much for that, Shakti. Went and had a look at your blog – lovely thought provoking stuff.
on October 27, 2012 at 12:06 am | Reply FigMince

Hi Dani. I’ve just discovered your blog. Way back in the mid-nineties you reviewed a dumb little story I’d been playing with, and asked if I’d written anything else. Since then, and in part because of your relatively encouraging response, I’ve fiddled with this and that, and eventually churned out a full-length unpublishable ‘novel’ which I’ve self-published for Kindle (yeah, I know, it’s kinda like masturbating in public, but otherwise my only other option is to just trash it). Anyway, if you’re interested, it’s available at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00991SMHY

Or you can download it free as a Word file at:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxFvh1QkZAzTQmU5ZFpSclY3REE/edit

I’m not looking for any reaction from you (in fact, I’d kinda prefer no response at all) – I’m simply letting you know that I appreciate the interest you showed back then.

Thanks, and hoping you’re well and happy – Allan Lloyd.
- on October 27, 2012 at 1:30 am | Reply Danielle de Valera
  
  Allan, how great to hear from you! I’ve often thought about that writing you gave me and how much I liked it. Will definitely pop over and have a look. I’m going to put out my little Mullumbimby novel next year (yeah, I know … but wot-the-hell, Archie, wot-the-hell.) If you’d like me to let you know when I do (it won’t be until the 2nd half of 2013) – or if you’d just like to keep in touch, do send me an email at: patrickdevalera@gmail.com.
  Again, great to hear from you. How on earth did you find me?!