The Adventure Indeed Continues
Two years ago, I had written http://booksbywomen.org/the-adventure-continues/ and the adventure indeed continues, but with a different emphasis. When a non-writing friend tried to pigeonhole what I was doing as a “hobby” I started pondering why I was so into writing. It was not to make money, or even a living – the day jobs had secured pensions of sorts, and you can also join https://www.alcs.co.uk which just sent me some unexpected pounds which will cover comp entries. It wasn´t because I “needed” to write to breathe and live. Looking back at the places I have sent work, and recently had it accepted, predominantly flash fiction, I would say: “A girl just wants to have fun.”
And the money? Ah, that´s where the new mission statement comes in.
This may sound crazy, but trying to accommodate all the lovely creatives who support my work through translations, artwork, whatever, I have decided to not make a living from writing/publishing and any money earned therefrom will go back to supporting those creatives. Some of their work you can see at my imprint www.flodobooks.com.
My UK-published novel, All the Beautiful Liars is currently being translated into German by Dan*ela Beuren in Vienna (the city of Vienna awarded her a grant to do so, and a Portuguese translation for the Brazilian market is planned to start in 2023. Gerfried Mikusch in Vienna (he did the German and English covers of Winds of Change, Romeo & Julia in Corona) has been asked to do the covers of both the German and Portuguese editions to be published by FloDoBooks.
The German edition of Ed´s Wife (Gebbie/Roberts/Beuren) https://www.flodobooks.com/product/eds-frau-und-andere-lebewesen/ has been entered in a competition in Austria to find the most beautiful books published in 2023 in Austria.
In keeping with my new mission statement, I´d like to mention that Amani Amin´s website Arab World Books which featured my writing journey is this year celebrating 30 years online! You can read what it´s all about at in an interview with Amani at https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/491201.aspx
I´m writing a lot of flash fiction now and have had work accepted/published by Pure Slush in Adelaide, Australia, a delightful press whose editor gets back to me quickly with very useful edits when needed.
So yes, why am I so into writing? I guess it´s because of the community of creatives behind the scenes and just trying to have fun. But there is a more serious side.
Confession time: I am entering the Chesire Novel Prize – just a week to go, mainly because of the feedback and to honour the work of my beta readers.
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Sylvia Petter, an Australian based in Vienna, Austria, writes short, long, serious, sexy and fun., and blogs at www.sylviapetter.com. Her debut novel, All the Beautiful Liars, was published as an eBook in March 2020 and will be out in paperback in 2021.
All the Beautiful Liars
How true are the family histories that tell us who we are and where we come from? Who knows how much all the beautiful liars have embargoed or embellished the truth? During a long flight from Europe to Sydney to bury her mother, Australian expat Katrina Klain reviews the fading narrative of her family and her long quest to understand her true origins. This has already taken her to Vienna, where she met her Uncle Harald who embezzled the Austrian government out of millions, as well as Carl Sokorny, the godson of one of Hitler’s most notorious generals, and then on to Geneva and Madrid.
Not only were her family caught up with the Nazis, they also turn out to have been involved with the Stasi in post-war East Germany. It’s a lot to come to terms with, but there are more revelations in store. After the funeral, she finds letters that reveal a dramatic twist which means her own identity must take a radical shift. Will these discoveries enable her to complete the puzzle of her family’s past? Inspired by her own life story, Sylvia Petter’s richly imaginative debut novel, set between the new world and the old, is a powerful tale about making peace with the past and finding closure for the future.
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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
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