Sara Hardy Writes

If you are in Melbourne then you might be interested in Baggage Productions: MadWomen Monologues. Every year they call for entries from women writers to submit a ten minute (or less) monologue for performance. They select 12 or so from the entries and present them - at the Butterfly Club in November. Half the income from ticket sales goes to a women's charity. I have a monologue in the second season called Hell's Little Helper . For more info and Early Bird reduced-price tickets go to https://thebutterflyclub.com/ show/the-madwomen-monologues- 2019 Program One: 11-16 November 2019 An Interview Ain’t No Sure Thing  written by Phoebe Taylor, directed by Keith Gow, performed by Seon Williams Butterfly Kicks  written by Jamila Main, directed by Renee Palmer, performed by Liliana Dalton The Cosmonaut’s Child  written by Alison Knight, directed by Chris Boek, performed by Andrew Godson Fair Trade  written by Carrolline Rhodes, directed by Adele Shelley, performed by Donna

I have been celebrating with friends. Popping the cork on champagne. Yippee! Last week I secured a Literary Agent! After my last post about the slowness of snails everything suddenly sped up. I tried a bit of lateral thinking ... and it paid off. I am now represented by Martin Shaw, who is associated with Alex Adsett Publishing Services (they represent Melissa Lucashenko who just won the Miles Franklin Award - not that I'm name-dropping or anything). I couldn't be happier with this turn of events. Especially as Martin Shaw is "very excited" about my manuscript, and very positive about its publishing potential. So one enormous hurdle scrambled over - and just a few more yet to come!  - and, but, here is a 1923 update : long story short: My manuscript is now published titled A Secretive Life and is available as paperback or eBook via all usual outlets (see more recent posts re). Martin Shaw and I parted company in the end, very amicably, and the champagne was g

Progress moves at snail's pace on the 'path to getting published' - so I am trying to embrace the art of patience. ... Will snail-watching help? Snails are not as slow as we think, and their ability to decimate a carefully grown lettuce is impressive (with the help of slugs and other pesky creatures). I am reminded of Elisabeth Tova Bailey's remarkable memoir, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating where a common woodland snail takes up residence in a terrarium in the room where Elisabeth lies suffering from a serious illness. Too weak even to pet her dog, she becomes fascinated by the life of this snail. It's movement, sounds and habits bring a kind of meditative comfort. Elisabeth recovered, and her world became bigger again. Then she wrote her prize-winning book. Speaking of Nature - it is Spring! (over Melbourne way) and the blossoms are bursting forth. There is a tree across the road that I can see from my study window, a Manchurian Ornamental Pear I think, and i