My Heart Lies in the Forest

As a child, I loved the beach. I was soothed by the sound of waves lapping on the sand. I enjoyed the feeling of space, the muted colours, the horizon view, and the sea air.

Then, I moved to East Gippsland.

Now, you will find me longing to be among the trees, in the Australian bush and forest.

My heart lies in the forest.

As I gave birth to our third daughter, I visualised laying in a bed of moss on the forest floor, nestled between the roots of an old gum tree. I smelled the damp earth, heard the birds singing, and felt the dappled sunlight shining through the branches and dancing on my face and body.

Not my heart forest...

This, is my forest.

Here, I am safely held by Mother Earth.

We vibrate at the same frequency.

The ocean is free. It is clean and pure. It is constantly moving and frolicks with reckless abandon. A nice space to visit and let go of woe, but not where I choose to dwell. In my heart, curled fern fronds hold me tight, simultaneously offering me love, strength, and comfort, while representing new growth. A continuation of self, expanding and thriving.

but you get the idea

My heartbeat powers a stream that trickles over rocks and carries along fallen leaves, muddying the place where a stick stubbornly refuses to move, digging itself into the soil. Yet still, the stream trickles, dislodging it by an endless flow without urgency or defeat. It uses the collected leaves to gather and push the stick from its place, clearing the flow, and restoring perfect order to my heart forest.

There are neverending pockets of wonder, new life, beauty, and magic. The space communicates around me and with me, whispering secret affirmations of love.

Here, I am held by God.

The artwork of trees

The forest has given me fairy homes, platypus sightings, bark cubbies, blinking koalas, stargazing nights, spiders living in pieces of art, and trees displaying their own creations on the girth of their trunks. It has given me picnic days, goanna explorations, secret paths, rock climbs with breathtaking views, and a trillion different shades of green.

This is my love letter to the forest.

It is there where you will find my heart.

Love, Marley

P.S. My novella, You Are Viggy, was strongly inspired by my time living in small-town East Gippsland and exploring the surrounding bush and forest areas.

You can buy this book for less than $1 AUD or read it for free if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.

My free novella, The Silver Maid, was set in the East Gippy town in which we used to live. I changed the name of the town (a bit) but if you're an Aussie, then I think you can work it out ;)

Happy reading! xx

The Unexpected Benefits of Injury

I went rollerblading with my kids and broke my wrist, requiring surgery. The first night contained absolutely NO sleep and a LOT of worry. But here I am, days later, to tell you that not only is everything okay, it's actually pretty wonderful (or is that the drugs talking? Let's find out)

Ouchies

"Hah, been a while since you went rollerblading, hey? Bit older now, aren't you?"

Uhh yeah, and I absolutely SLAYED! I was flying along with the breeze through my hair, grinning like a banshee while reliving my 14-year-old Taylor-Hanson-obsessed MMMBoppin' days. I totally rocked the blades and had a BALL with my eldest three at the roller rink. I was thinking 'Hey, I could really get into this. It could be a regular thing that we could do together and we could bond and stuff'. Hubby was smiling and waving and I gave him a grin and a thumbs up, then used my breaks to slow down so I could make my way to the rink exit. Then, somehow, my feet slid forward out from under me and I put my arm back to cushion my fall onto my backside, and, CRACK!

It wasn't even a bad fall. I got up all wobbly and didn't look at my wrist until I was near the rink exit. It didn't look normal. I held it out towards my husband as I moved towards him and said something like, "I think I need some help." He guided me to the chair and then things started to go white. It was all fun and games until that point. I had broken my radius. A colles fracture, which meant the bone ends were nowhere near each other, my wrist looked deformed, and I needed surgery.

Shit. Oh-kaaaay. I'm a mum of 5, aged care worker, and writer, who needs to get her kids to a lot of appointments and just does a lot of shit every day. I had bags all around me, three kids looking at me, rollerblades strapped to my feet, and where was my handbag? How the heck was this all going to work?!!

Alright, I admit, this is an injury with a 12-week recovery, it's going to get old, and it hasn't even been a week yet. But still, I have had some beautiful moments and unexpected benefits of this injury that I want share with you.

It's not been all bad. Let me explain...

• An enforced SLOWING DOWN

A literal slowing down of everything that I need to do. Getting dressed, finding something in my bag, getting into and out of a car, going to the toilet, eating a meal. It's like a little enforced time for mindfulness and mindfully doing things that I wouldn't otherwise think about or probably even be conscious of doing. I would just do the thing, but now, I have to think about doing the thing.

• An outpouring of LOVE and SUPPORT

This has been HUGE! My children made me cheesecake and get-well cards, they texted me and sent me videos while I was in the hospital. They have given me extra hugs and extra love and one of them even told me how she had prayed for me. The people around me just sorted stuff out and I have received offers of support, and I have just felt so FULL and grateful...

• GRATITUDE

Gratitude for my health and family, for the love and support from them and those around us, and for my access to excellent medical care. The doctors and nurses were wonderful, I didn't have to wait for the surgery, it was done the day after the injury, and I was offered my own room to recover in. Work has been understanding, my husband's work has been understanding, and I just feel so grateful. Grateful for my body, too. It does a good job, putting up with me lol.

• REST

An injury like this makes you rest. Because you have to rest to recover, and because the pain and drugs make you sleepy. Normally, I would do things when I rest, maybe write, read, research, whatever. But, the type of rest I need has been genuine rest. My brain has felt a bit shaky and I haven't tried to fill the time doing, but have spent a few days literally just resting. Sometimes, just sitting there doing absolutely nothing at all. Not really even thinking. Just resting. This is rare for me. Again, perhaps a side effect of some of the drugs, but it has still been an unexpected benefit, to give my brain a genuine break.

• CLARITY

A little more awareness perhaps, about what really matters. I mean, work goes on without me, and it doesn't matter if the house is messy. What matters is my family and our relationships, the time that we spend with one another, and that each of our needs are met.

I also seem to have a sort of understanding hovering around in the back of my head, too, that creating memories and doing things contains some risk, and the outcome was worth it. And, even this perceived negative event will have POSITIVE OUTCOMES. We will laugh about it when we talk about this as we all get older, "Remember those school holidays when Mum fell on her bum and broke her arm on the first day...". Yeah, but remember how AWESOME she skated before she fell! haha.

I dunno. I mean, I suppose I expected to sit around feeling sore, unable to do stuff, and like a broken arm would just be a big, HUGE inconvenience. But, i don't feel that much at all. Instead, I feel glad and grateful, a bit sore, but still able to do stuff, just a little slower.

Will I go rollerblading again?

Maaaybe I will. Before I fell, we actually won the door prize, which was another free pass hah! Guess I owe the kids a re-do.

Much love,

Marley

P.S / UPDATE:

It's been three days since I wrote this blog post and yeah, to be honest, I kinda think it was the drugs talking. I'm still tired with a shaky brain, feeling a bit less sore but a bit more miserable today (+fat, useless, untalented, uncreative etc. etc.). Fun times. But even still, the above still stands. My family rocks, my body is healing, and I have a lot to be grateful for. Like you! Thanks for being here. Stay safe and may your days be blessed - Marley xx

What is Contemporary Fiction?

Are Contemporary Fiction books set now, as in present day, or recent past? How recent? Yesterday? Last year? Two years ago? Can something that was written twenty years ago still be Contemporary Fiction? What IS Contemporary Fiction? Let's find out together.

What is Contemporary Fiction?

When you Google 'What is Contemporary Fiction?', you don't even need to scroll down to see three different answers:

Huh??

So, is it set in the present day, recent past, or after World War Two (which ended in 1945) and "coincident with contemporary history"???

Let's explore.

Where did I start my research? At the library, of course! I bombarded our sweet librarian, Francis, with questions like:

"A book set in the 90's would have been classified as Contemporary Fiction (CF) in the 90's, right? But is it still CF or has it dated out of the CF genre? Do all books date out of CF unless set in an ambiguous time that could always be interpreted as 'now'?"

She told me that she didn't know, and then helped me research the answer.

Francis explained that the library's book suppliers categorise the books, not the library itself. The library had no information on genres in their collection policies. So, she suggested that I head to publishers and suppliers to find my answers. The other thing she said, is that she thought that CF books were ones that didn't fit into any other categories and were just a "regular story" with no unusual or fantastical elements, like, it could happen to you or me.

Ooops! That would rule my books, The Silver Sheep and The Silver Shepherd, out of the CF genre that I have categoriesed them in. Okay, so does the story itself need to meet expectations to fit into the CF genre? So many questions!

The next question that I decided to tackle is: Who decides on a book's genre? Then I would find out who to ask my questions about CF.

Here is what I found out: Most people say that the publisher has the final say, but this also does not seem to be a definitive answer. Authors need to define a genre in order to pitch their book idea to a publisher in the first place. One answer referred to OCLC which helped me remember that the librarian had mentioned them too. A Google search tells me that they are a "global library cooperative". Hrmm, okay, interesting, but off track now. WHAT THE HECK IS CONTEMPORARY FICTION??? And who decides?

The National Library of Australia refers to a 'Modern & Contemporary fiction' category and classifies it as: 'Works of literary and non-genre fiction first published after 1960'.

'Literary and non-genre fiction' fits in with the librarian's idea that CF encompasses books that don't fit into any other genre, but then it goes on to specify that the book be PUBLISHED after 1960. Not SET after, but published after.

An AustLit paper titled 'Contemporary Historical Fiction, Exceptionalism and Community: After the Wreck' supports the idea of a book being contemporary due to date of publishing and NOT when the book is set, otherwise how could a book be both contemporary and historical fiction?

So, is the CF genre about when a book is set, when it is published, or what the book is about? Or a mix of all three? Oh golly, my head is spinning!

Market Project UK explained that CF is 'sometimes referred to as metamodernism' which Wikipedia tells me is 'contemporary art that has emerged after postmodernism', which emerged in the 1960s. So, this supports the National Library of Australia's definition that the works need to be published after 1960 to be considered CF.

Then, I discovered the book, Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction, by Robert Eaglestone. I didn't read it, but it seems to dive into the themes and elements in a story that makes it contemporary.

Oh boy, the research hole keeps getting deeper and I really don't want my next book to be 60,000 words titled, What is Contemporary Fiction. I need to wrap this up.

So, what next?

I emailed some Australian book publishers directly and asked them what criteria they used to determine whether a book falls into the CF genre. Then, I waited.

I didn't hear back. I'm wondering if it is because there is no criteria. It seems to be a very subjective sort of thing. I haven't waited too long for a response, but I figure that if it was a quick answer, then I would have heard back fairly quickly, right?

So, I don't have a nice, neat little answer for you. Instead, I will give you some other people's ideas of what CF is:

• Zuille Writes says that CF is set in the present and is a "contantly evolving genre that reflects the changes in our world. As 'contemporary' changes, so too does the genre." They explain that SETTING is key, and not themes or subject matter. They also list some excellent points:

  • It's relevant

  • It's relatable

  • It's diverse

  • It expands your worldview

• RT Book Reviews say that CF is set in the present day and categorised by its "relevance to the current societal, cultural, and political climate." They go on to say that it can include fantasy and, like Zuille Writes, lists diversity as a key characteristic "voices and perspectives... from different cultures, races, genders, and sexual orientations."

• The Write Practice explains that "what is considered CF today will change a decade from now." So, yes, books will 'age out' of the CF genre, but perhaps only when what the book contains is no longer relevant or reflective of life in the present day, rather than after a certain number of years have passed since publication?

• Market Project UK list relevance and diversity as key elements of CF, explaining that it focuses on "real-life issues." Interestingly, they suggest that authors who write CF consider using Sensitivity Readers to make sure that "portrayal of different cultures and experiences are accurate and respectful".

Okay, so in summary it seems as though there are no hard and fast rules.

Sort of.

There is no list of criteria that a book must meet to fall in the Contemporary Fiction genre. HOWEVER, if a book is:

• Published after 1960

• Set in the present day

• Relevant

• Relatable, and

• Contains diversity

Then it is probably CF. If it's fantasy or contains any unrealistic elements, then it's debatable. And, what is considered CF now will likely not remain CF. But, I can't tell you exactly when books will age out of the genre. It would seem that it is when they are no longer relevant. A book would need to 'age well', which makes me think more of house decorating than fiction books.

Right, so is that as clear as... murky water?

I hope that you have found this blog helpful. References that I used are hyperlinked throughout this post, so please feel welcome to go and do some of your own reserach. If you do, please let me know what you find out (and I'll let you know if any of those book publishers end up replying to my email).

Much love,

Marley x

P.S. Check out my Contemporary Fiction books. They are set in the present day and explore current (and timeless) social and political themes, like:

• Poverty and inequality

• Holistic/new age healing and natural health remedies + the healing power of nature

• Corporate greed & corruption + money making from illness

• Social vs independent thought and the importance of questioning things for yourself

All from the perspective of a young woman in a modern-day dysfunctional family.

Book One, The Silver Sheep, is available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.