The plan for 2024 . . .

Chatting with my lovely mentor earlier this month resulted in firming up the timeline for this book project. An important point to consider was that it will be 20 years since Tasmanians first learned of plans to build a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. Details of an overheard lunchtime conversation at a Hobart waterfront restaurant were reportedly passed on to the Greens, and the rest as they say, is history. But God bless the wait staff who overheard said conversation and chose to alert the Greens to what was being discussed because opposing the project could have proved far more difficult had plans progressed much further. The proponents – and then premier Lennon – were caught wrong-footed, and it’s likely both were surprised at the response of a community who showed itself less than enthusiastic about the idea.

So while book progress about the campaign has ranged from slow to irregular but steady it’s now time to speed it up. The plan is to have a first draft completed by the end of January – a challenging thought in itself given summer is never a time to relax at the best of times. There’s too much home-grown produce to both pick and process for starters – and that takes time. I’m not the fastest of writers and there is still the bread and butter writing to do. After three years of having a combined December and January issue of The Veterinarian, the new editor has advised that there will be a January 2024 issue, and the deadline for stories is rapidly approaching. So much for summertime being easy!

Then with that first draft optimistically completed I’ll be working towards the final draft by end of June – the probable deadline for submissions for the Premier’s Literary Awards. A nice synchronicity in itself as the awards are only held every two years. The goal is to enter my manuscript in the Unpublished Manuscript category.

Just hope this goal proves achievable.