tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508046549209837112024-03-05T21:04:38.472+10:30Rebecca FreebornI'm a writer, both personally and professionally. I love my job but I dream of being a published author. Writing is my passion, temporarily in hiatus while I adjust to the new adventure of motherhood.
I also love my dog, my horse, my son, my husband, my friends, the Adelaide Hills, good food and good wine. Not necessarily in that order.Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-12297037879126328042012-07-30T16:04:00.002+09:302012-07-30T16:05:47.393+09:30Moving onMy blog has moved house!
The migration to a new platform only partially worked so I've had to leave my followers behind. If you'd still like to follow my somewhat sporadic posts, I am now blogging at www.rebeccafreeborn.com.
Hope to see you there!Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-11354848139894136852012-04-08T14:17:00.003+09:302012-04-08T14:21:01.698+09:30Forgetting about the milestones and enjoying the journeyYesterday I read this blog post and it really resonated with me. When you become a parent, it's just the herald of a lifetime of worrying and paranoia.
Is my child developing at the right rate?
Why can't he get up on his hands and knees yet?
Why is he so sensitive about everything?
Why doesn't he like being around other babies?
Why did he refuse to eat breakfast this morning?
Why doesn't he likeRebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-54951511837551322002012-01-27T11:50:00.000+10:302012-01-27T11:50:36.022+10:30Ban the grunt? Really?OK, so this is a bit of a departure from my usual material, but this 'issue' has only just caught my attention and I can barely believe it's serious.
I'll admit that I know very little about, and have very little interest in all things sports. So it probably looks like I've been living under a rock to not be aware of the apparently long-held controversy over the 'grunt' in tennis. But it seems Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-72448214271500912412011-11-17T11:07:00.000+10:302011-11-17T11:07:48.670+10:30The muse has returnedI'm back! It's seemed like forever since I've been able to write, but my muse has finally returned...and, along with it, my procrastination. Hence this post when I probably only have half an hour in which to bang out some words.
Since having a baby eight weeks ago, life has pretty much turned upside down. Whenever I thought things might be evening out a little, it would all change again. But, Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-23134380569258402862011-10-21T13:36:00.000+10:302011-10-21T13:36:13.598+10:30Yesterday, I fell in loveI have a new man in my life. He's only been around for just under five weeks, but it already feels like he's been here forever.
On 18 September 2011 at 8.11pm, Finn Wallace Freeborn Inglis was born. I won't go into the gory details; suffice it to say that with the help of my amazing husband I had the natural birth I'd had my heart set on and delivered a healthy, beautiful baby. George helped to Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-88619688254013155792011-09-03T05:28:00.000+09:302011-09-03T05:28:17.496+09:30Baring my soul: writing as catharsisI've always known that writing about a difficult period of your life could be cathartic, healing; what I didn't know was how hard it is. Some months ago, I discovered just how raw and painful it could be when I wrote about the two miscarriages I had last year.
I don't think I would ever have written about something so private, even just for myself, if I hadn't seen the call for submissions for Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-42266914966225179442011-07-29T19:37:00.000+09:302011-07-29T19:37:18.410+09:30At 4.11am, I finished my bookI wouldn't normally get up in the middle of the night to edit on purpose, but I'd been awake since 2.30 already, and lying in bed staring into the dark seemed like a waste of possible productivity. So, at 3.20am I got up, sat on the couch with my laptop and edited the final 30 pages of the sixth and final draft of my first completed, polished manuscript.
This project has been a long journey for Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-73062634843816314632011-07-10T19:54:00.000+09:302011-07-10T19:54:04.447+09:30Why I need to read more Australian booksI'm sorry to admit that I really haven't been pulling my weight over the years when it comes to supporting Australian authors. It's not that I've actively avoided them, or have any sense of cultural cringe, or think that British or American writers are better. One of my all-time favourite books, Cloudstreet, was written by an Australian author, and will probably go down in history as one of the Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-52106766479803454262011-06-27T20:45:00.000+09:302011-06-27T20:45:05.371+09:30The antics, quirks and other endearing qualities of my animals: Part 3Pedro
Pedro is the most recent addition to our animal family and has proven no exception to the personality rule. We found him at the Animal Welfare League as a three month old kitten, terrorising his brother in the cage they shared. I must admit that being black was the first thing that attracted us to him - it wasn't a pre-requisite, but it just seemed nice and neat to have three black animalsRebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-77012131828290142352011-05-17T19:38:00.000+09:302011-05-17T19:38:13.428+09:30The antics, quirks and other endearing qualities of my animals: Part 2Jedi
Jedi is the love of my life, after my husband, of course. We got him from the RSPCA shelter as a three month old, bumbling puppy who was supposed to be a staffy/blue heeler cross. I don't know whether this was just an educated guess on the RSPCA's behalf, but he just kept getting bigger and bigger, and we really have no idea what combination of genes created him. He's tall, athletic and Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-59899581104958573032011-04-30T12:19:00.000+09:302011-04-30T12:19:56.972+09:30The antics, quirks and other endearing qualities of my animals: Part 1Since the day I was born I've been around animals. Apparently, at the ripe old age of two I chose our dog, Sally, from the animal shelter. The fact that this dog turned out to be borderline psychotic, chasing cars, eating snail bait and almost poisoning herself, biting anyone my dad got mad at, did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm and love for animals. Despite her crazy tendencies, that dog was Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-67523524165840481902011-04-03T19:39:00.000+09:302011-04-03T19:39:02.305+09:30One ending, another new beginningTonight, I completed the final draft of one of my three manuscripts.
It's been three months since my last blog post, mostly due to the fact that I didn't really have anything new to say about my writing. This last draft has taken me a little longer than I'd hoped, and a big part of me is glad that it's done. Completing a story to the point that it's ready to go out into the world (well, as readyRebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-84282456391042980412011-01-05T20:05:00.000+10:302011-01-05T20:05:52.892+10:30At the halfway pointIt's been exactly a month since my last blog post, and I'm almost exactly halfway through editing my second manuscript. I'll keep this brief, as I mustn't procrastinate too long from actually doing it (yeah right).
It's been a bit of a hard slog at times, but overall I've been enjoying the process. Some pages have been a lot like pulling teeth. I keep using the same bloody phrases and words overRebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-67828844053561608312010-12-05T18:04:00.001+10:302010-12-05T18:06:54.489+10:30My name is Rebecca, and I am addicted to writingIt's time to face up to the fact that what started out as a hobby has developed into a full blown obsession. Over the last 5-6 years, my periods of not writing have been far longer and more frequent than my productive times. I've taken six months off, or more, with barely a thought. But something has changed this year - when I'm not working on something, I find myself thinking incessantly about Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-8403151142397384362010-11-27T17:55:00.000+10:302010-11-27T17:55:05.640+10:3069 days, 76,800 words, another manuscript finishedToday I finished the first draft of my third manuscript, ending a frenzied 69 days of flat out writing. When I began this marathon I'd only written the first chapter, so essentially I've written an 80,000 word book in two and a half months. I have mixed feelings about this.
Obviously, I'm proud of the achievement. I probably averaged six hours' sleep a night, so I'm looking forward to Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-45729795119758965762010-11-25T17:56:00.000+10:302010-11-25T17:56:21.579+10:30The ups and downs of the 2010 Hachette Manuscript Development ProgramOK, so I should really be using these last few days before going back to the real world to work on one, two or all three of my manuscripts. But after the ups and downs of the last five days, I have to get my thoughts down now before the whole episode becomes a series of fuzzy and half-remembered impressions.
I'm not quite sure how to describe what was one of the most intense experiences of my Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-91333835563569642262010-10-18T09:45:00.000+10:302010-10-18T09:45:47.440+10:30You can't force creativityHere we are on day three of what has become our annual holiday to Yondah on the Yorke Peninsula, and I've got a lot to live up to since our inaugural visit last September. Back then I was on my second consecutive month of writing 1000 words a day, and in a tremendous burst of inspiration I wrote something like 10,000 words over the five days of our stay and finished the first draft.
The Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-51226378587774227602010-10-09T08:49:00.002+10:302010-10-09T10:10:57.217+10:30Another step in the road to publicationI'm not religious and I'm not sure whether or not I believe in fate, but sometimes it does seem as if random decisions converge to give you the opportunities you've been hoping for.
A couple of weeks ago I found out that I'd secured a place on the Hachette Manuscript Development Program, but it didn't happen quite as I'd expected it to. For one thing, I'd never intended to enter the manuscript Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-28176554885632577822010-09-05T18:27:00.001+09:302010-09-05T18:31:28.688+09:30Should apostrophes be phased out?Apostrophes seem to be the least understood and most frequently stuffed up element of the English language. Possessions, contractions, quotations, plural-possessive... so many rules to remember. When you throw in the contrary its and it's, it's (excuse the pun) no wonder that people get confused. And then there's the people who add an apostrophe into any word ending with an s. But don't get me Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-86733851309708731252010-07-13T20:41:00.000+09:302010-07-13T20:41:48.389+09:30Words I enjoyI get a lot of pleasure out of words. Lame, I know. I'm a self-confessed word nerd. Ask my workmates - I got wildly excited when my 4th edition Macquarie Thesaurus arrived, a prudent, yet (for me) luxurious pre-end-of-financial-year-we've-still-got-some-money-left-in-the-budget-so-we-might-as-well-spend-it purchase.
So, I really love words. Here are some of the words I particularly enjoy. This Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-33697290226185764592010-06-22T21:30:00.001+09:302010-06-22T21:36:10.622+09:30The pitfalls of deadlinesHaving a deadline is a great incentive to get things done, particularly at work. But for people like me, for whom procrastination is an art form, they can be dangerous too. I work so well to a deadline that not only do I leave things until the day they're due, but sometimes until the final hours, or even minutes. I recently wrote about 80 per cent of a speech in 20 minutes after vacillating over Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-72916111410863377172010-06-07T21:54:00.000+09:302010-06-07T21:54:21.752+09:30Horse people are f#@%ing crazyThat's what was going through my head earlier this evening as I squelched up the muddy hill of my horse's paddock. My hands were already numb, the wind was cutting through to my bones, and the temperature gauge in my car told me it was 7.5 degrees at 5.15 pm. It was Monday, I was tired and if I hadn't driven so far to get there I would have been tempted to turn around and drive home again.
It's Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-87701106065428434882010-05-22T10:44:00.000+09:302010-05-22T10:44:46.374+09:30On having too many commitmentsFor someone with a fairly strong lazy streak, I tend to pack a lot into my life.
This morning, for instance, I'm forcing myself to do some more editing on my manuscript in between coffee and breakfast, but there are a lot of other competing requirements.
My dog, Jedi, is bouncing around the house turning himself inside out with the sheer effort of letting me know just how important is it that Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3350804654920983711.post-18404089343800850972010-05-11T17:47:00.000+09:302010-05-11T17:47:08.999+09:30Every author who wants to be published must have a blogThat's what they say, and far be it from me to argue with the ubiquitous 'they'. Hence I have started this blog to talk about my writing. Because when your full time job almost entirely involves writing, and when you grab random, hard-earned moments of spare time for creative writing, a blog about writing (which by definition entails writing) is exactly what you need. Ah, yeah...
I'd like to Rebecca Freebornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05956829794593700493noreply@blogger.com0