So, this is going to be a very updated post this week. It’s time to change things around a bit. I’ll still have the small intro about what’s been going on in my world, but the updates will change.
So, too, will some other stuff. And the layout might change as well – but, hey, you’ll find that out as you read.
Okay, all of the individual launches for each book of the Otherworldly Emergence series have been completed. You can actually find them on YouTube under the Bushland Castle Productions channel. I even read out an excerpt from both of my books in that series.
It’s taken just shy of two months to do all 13 books plus the journal that goes with them, but it was an exciting time!
If you go to the BCP Creative Facebook page, you can get more information on the series. Also, we would appreciate reviews being posted to Goodreads if you are able to.
Okay. Updates.
This is a change.
I’m not going to list what’s going on in the various universes I’ve created, because most of them are on the backburner until my Otherworldly Origins novella has been edited to my satisfaction. (Which is my duty.)
The only universe I’m currently working on is the Gifted universe. I am editing the Origins Novella, which has some of the characters from the Emergence books and I’m currently writing a brand new story in the universe. That is all I’m focused on at the moment as the editing takes a lot of time.
I will get back to the others, however, and I will update you when they are updated.
So, you can still get my books that have been published and you can visit my site for the links to those as well as to Bushland Castle Productions, which is the best place to purchase the Otherworldly Emergence Series from.
One update that I am pleased to announce is that I am rebuilding my website. It will take time and I have someone who is currently working on it for me. So, stay tuned for that information.
Grow Write
Yes, our writing group is still going. We are currently working on our 2027 anthology and hope to have that out later next year. We had a great time writing our last one in 2025 and I know I’ve had fun gathering stories for next year’s.
Bushland Castle Productions
Otherworldly series
Bushland Castle Productions are currently in the second series of a group of five series related to Otherworldly topics. So far, the Emergence series has been published and the Origins series is currently being written and edited.
These are all separate novellas with an interweaving element. Emergence had a reaper.
Otherworldly Emergence
Yes, they’re completely out there! All 12 ebooks and paperbacks are available online and the best place to buy them is at www.bushlandcastleproductions.com/book-shop. Every book is listed there.
Otherworldly Origins Series
This series builds on the Otherworldly Emergence series. Some of the stories relate to the ones in the Emergence series, but some don’t.
This series is about the first of a kind. Like, the first of a creature, the first of a power, the first of a magical element. Something that has never been seen before.
The Otherworldly series are not the only publications Bushland Castle is working on. They also have a memoir series they are currently working on. The first series of that is titled “Living in Australia in the 70s”. This is for those of us who were late teens between 1970 and 1980.
They also produce Low Content journals aimed at aiding writers in whatever style in which they write.
Bushland Castle Productions also provide an author support platform. This includes workshops, twice weekly catchups online, write-in sessions on Discord and a whole heap more assistance.
So, visit www.bushlandcastleproductions.com for further information on their products and their street team – known as the Town Criers. If you’re interested in being an ARC reader for any of the series, Town Criers are always needed.
Finally, the last thing Bushland Castle Productions have is the Finding Elara podcast. This podcast features special guests who discuss their goals and achievements and answer questions about their creative works and how they came to do what they love.
Seasons 1 – 3 are available and season 4 is in the planning stage. So, stay tuned.
Writing
So, while I was writing this blog, I was having a conversation about a friend regarding their writing. They asked me for some feedback and I read a little of what they had written. Then I thought about where I got my writing skills from. Which led me to think about how I put words on the page and how I started doing that.
Now, my first piece (no-one but me has read this and I think it’s at the bottom of a rubbish tip in Melbourne) was a piece of fan-fiction. Granted, I was 14 at the time, but I can still remember seeing those scenes in my mind. (Yes, I see movies when I read and write, not words.)
So, then I thought about how I managed to put those words down in such a way that it made sense. Because we’re taught – or we were in those days – that writing is something that takes years to master. Yet, here I was, writing these scenes and seeing those scenes in my mind when reading them back. (I had a lot of writer’s cramp in those days.)
So, talking with my friend this morning, I realised that I had read a lot of YA books at that time. I was right into the mystery books geared for kids at the time and one of my favourites was a book called Black Tiger (yes, it does exist, I searched for it online).
So, all of that reading (got told too many times to get my nose out of my book) gave me the skills to emulate what I had read and understand how those words worked when put together. Okay, I’m not discounting my primary and secondary school learning. I had brilliant teachers in those days.
As our conversation progressed, I told him the books I had read throughout my life. The mystery books, the crime books, the political and supernatural books.
The point I tried to make to him was that all of that diverse reading gave me the grounding on how sentences, dialogue and grammar works. It all enhanced what I was taught at school.
I can’t imagine how it feels to see words on a page rather than a movie. I did 16 years of part-time university and TAFE and struggled to read the publications I had to. Because they weren’t a movie. They were just words on a page. No life to them.
Because that’s what all those books taught me – how to put life onto a page. Into a story. How to bring a different world to life, whether it was something like the Gifted universe where they are on this world, in Perth, or whether it’s like Clans in Conflict where it’s a separate world with its own dimensions.
So, if you’re new to writing or anything creative, my suggestion is to go and look at what the masters of your chosen outlet is. Check what they’ve done. Really examine it to see where you can make your mark. Even if you rewrite something you read but don’t like. Even that will help you understand how a story fits together and how someone reads it.
Look at those other books – even if they’re something like Tolstoy – and make notes on what strikes you about each character, each setting, each plot. See if you can do something similar in your world.
Now, these are only suggestions. I don’t put them out as rules for writing or anything like that. I just believe that these are what helped create my writing skills.
