Caine Prize for African Writing (2^nd Sept, 11am) – Winning writers E.C. Osondu and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor discuss the Caine Prize for African Writing. The prize encourages the recognition of African writing in English; celebrating its richness and diversity and bringing it to a wider audience.

Visiting Writer Evening One (2^nd Sept, 7pm) – An exclusive evening with international visiting writers: Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Val McDermid and Joe Bageant.

Shane Howard Lyrics (3^rd Sept, 7pm) – The men behind the music: Shane Howard’s anthemic Solid Rock symbolises Australian social protest worldwide, Neil Murray’s My Island Home connects cultures across Australia, and Archie Roach tells his personal story as a child of the Stolen Generations in Took the Children Away. In a one-off Brisbane Writers Festival event, these iconic Australian songwriters sing from the Shane Howard songbook.

God Bless The United State of America (4^th Sept, 5.30pm) – Joe Bageant, James P. Othmer and John Birmingham discuss the impact of American politics on their writing.

To enter just send an email with the subject ‘I heart red hill’ to sally@redhill.me. Please include your name, phone number, postal address and the event you wish to attend.

Entries close Tuesday 30 August 2010, Midnight.

Sounds obvious. We publish books. Duh. But we also do a whole range of things involved in creating books. Which brings us back to the definition of a book. Not always something printed on paper.

So I’ve cooked up a statement that sums up what we are all about. Our elevator pitch, if you like.

‘Red Hill Publishing turns great ideas into great books, both print and digital. We do it by using our expertise in publishing (writing, editing, design, marketing and management). We create non-fiction books that we publish ourselves, and we offer our book creation services to individuals and organisations with great ideas of their own.’

I love it. And I’ll be telling the world all about it. Watch this space.

The other week I had planned a shopping trip with daughter number two. She is very picky about her clothes and will only wear a very compact selection of t-shirts and leggings, so any chance I get to have her choose her own is to be snatched up. We had also agreed to stop by the supermarket to buy jelly crystals, inspired by watching a film in which ‘jello’ featured. Daughter number one decided to come with us at the last minute. But just as we were driving up the road, she let rip with a whinge. ‘I want to go to the other supermarket!’ she moaned, naming a centre in precisely the opposite direction of where I was heading. For some reason, this just pressed all the wrong buttons for me. I had a plan, and now someone was messing with it. I pulled the car to the side of the road and screeched to a halt. (I hasten to add it was a quiet side street and I did check the rear mirror for other cars first.) ‘Do you really think it MATTERS which supermarket we go to?’ I snarled. Bethany started to apologise, clearly quite frightened by my sudden reaction, but I was in full swing by now. ‘Right, Forget it, we’re going home.’ I hauled the car into a U-turn and drove back home. I pulled into the driveway, realising that I was being an idiot and overreacting, but still too hyped to back down. I launched into a string f rhetorical questions: ‘what’s important here? Does it matter which supermarket we go to? Is it important for us to buy jelly at all today? Aren’t we meant to be shopping for clothes?’ Brave Bethany quietly pointed out that she knew that this particular supermarket had the type of jelly we wanted. Bless her – that tiny piece of reason gave me a chance to climb off my high horse. Off we went to her chosen supermarket, then had a very successful clothes-buying session.

Sometimes I scare myself when I lose my temper like that. I can feel the heat rising inside my skull. I know that I am losing control, but by the time I know that, it’s too late: I just can’t stop myself.

Lara is another mother who struggles with the temper thing. If there was one thing she would like to change about her parenting, she says, it’s learning some better ‘frustration techniques’. She would love to know how to keep her cool when she is stressed. Lara’s husband travels a lot for work; he is overseas or interstate about one week in four. With three children under six, there’s plenty for Lara to be frustrated about. She is very organised and solution-focused; the chaos that is part of the territory of parenting doesn’t come naturally to her.

Our anger over the details of daily life may seem trivial. But at the pointy end of anger, it can be a toxin that spreads and infects the lives around us. If you’ve ever spent time with a profoundly angry person, you’ll know how all-pervading and insidious it can be. It shows up in common and everyday forms as gossip, insults, a martyr complex, grudges, as well as on a grander scale as domestic violence, road rage and knifings in the school yard.

Peace advocate and Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Thanh has some advice for cooling the flames. He advises that you embrace the howling baby of our anger with tenderness: ‘My dear anger, I know you are there, I am taking good care of you.’ Using other images to help, he recommends seeing our rage as potatoes that need to be cooked or as garbage that needs to be turned into nourishing compost.

The answer to anger doesn’t lie in burying it. That just makes your hot emotions congeal into a cold grudge or resentment. We need to face off our anger: don’t try to deny it, block it out, or even analyse it – not yet. Let it rise, feel it, sit with it, become it. That’s when you will really know what the anger is all about. And that is when you can take that amazing energy and turn it into something else – determination, conviction, courage.

What presses your buttons as a parent? What makes you angry? How do you get through it/over it?

Most publishers are looking for good ideas written by people who know their subject and their market and who can write well. If they get such a manuscript, they’re not about to turn round and ask someone else to replicate it or pass it off as their own. If you have a great concept and you have written it well, and you are the best author for the book (well respected in your area, promotable etc), then I’d be wasting my time trying to steal the idea or the manuscript.

If you haven’t yet written the manuscript but you have a concept that you want to pitch to publishers, a similar principle applies: if you truly are the best person to write this book, then I’ll be looking to sign you up rather than rip you off.

As a publisher, I’m looking for authors as much as for ideas. There are many great ideas in the world but relatively few authors capable of bringing them to fruition and taking them to market with authority, passion and flair.

If you want to get published, you have to put your work out there. The best safeguard is to ensure that you’re dealing with a reputable publisher. Don’t expect a publisher to sign a non-disclosure agreement: most will refuse because it is too restrictive of work that they might already have in development in a similar area. Most also would rather spend their time and energy finding the Next Big Thing rather than hassling the contractual details of a book concept they might not even want.

I’ve worked in book publishing for 20-plus years, and I’m happy to say that I’ve never exploited someone else’s ideas. As a writer myself, I’ve also never knowingly had my ideas exploited.

• Make sure you’re dealing with a well-respected publisher.
• Make sure you send in a fleshed-out proposal that includes a clear description, an outline, and a summary of your background and abilities. Sell yourself and your work as a package.

Love = it’s a great distraction for when I should be doing other things (like writing a book)

Love = sometimes it’s handy to hide downstairs, saying ‘I’ve got to go and hang out some washing now’

Love = when it’s all done and the house looks shiny and gleamy (lasts about five minutes, esp after rain when muddy footprints appear quicker than you can say ‘take your shoes off’)

Hate = when there’s stuff everywhere: Lego on the kitchen bench, dirty socks near the back door, grass and leaves all over the front verandah, Monopoly pieces strewn across the living room floor. It’s an insurmountable task.

Hate = when I really want to be doing something else, like on the weekend going for a coffee with friends.

Hate = when I feel like I’m the only one doing it.

Your home can be a very special place. In a world where rage pervades every situation (road rage, phone rage), how good it is to come home to a place of calm. In a life where so much seems out of control (phone bills, the environment), it is precious to have a home marked by order. In times when danger seems to be everywhere (crime, terrorism, speeding cars, natural disasters), what a beautiful thing to know that you have a haven waiting for you.

This home of yours is where your children will grow tall, strong, funny, wise. The scents, sights, people and objects that you fill it with will be imprinted on their memories forever. What are your memories of your childhood home? Good or bad, they are a crucial part of how you have grown from baby to adult.

Home matters.

So if home matters, it matters how you care for your home. Does it look good, smell good, work well for you? Because that’s what housework is all about.

Even if you are reluctant to embrace the notion that creating a comfortable, well-run home can be both satisfying and illuminating on a spiritual level, consider it an emotional investment. Gratitude and ‘simple abundance’ guru Sarah Ban Breathnach talks about the ‘sweat equity’ of investing time and energy in your home. She takes the pragmatic line, suggesting that ‘channelling your time and creative energy closer to home will produce a big emotional return for yourself and those you love.’

Like anything else in our lives – eating, drinking, playing – our work in our homes can be a gift to our souls if done mindfully. Who knows? If you do it without care or charge someone else with the work, you might even be missing out on something …

You’ve spent months or years sweating over your manuscript, honing it, rewriting vast swathes of it. Maybe it’s the distillation of your innermost thoughts or your life’s work. At the very least it is most likely about a topic that is close to your heart, and you’ve worked hard to do it justice.

Writing a book can be a lonely job. But when you decide that your manuscript is ready to meet the world, that all changes.

Perhaps you have been offered a deal with a major publisher, or you’ve decided to publish independently and you’ve worked out who your team will be – editor, cover designer, typesetter, proofreader, printer (the list could and should go on). All of a sudden, other people have a stake in what you are doing. If you decide to rewrite chapter three now, that doesn’t just cost you some late nights: it also means that your editor has to un-stitch some of the meticulous work she has done. If you suddenly feel that the title doesn’t capture the essence of the book, there are a lot of contingencies riding on changing it: it affects the cover design, the marketing materials, the text itself if the title is mentioned or intrinsic to your writing.

Some authors (myself included at times) cling, white-knuckled, to their baby, quite unable to relinquish it into the hands of others. It’s a separation that few writers think about or are prepared for.

Yet one of the things that I love most about working in book publishing is the collaborative aspect, working with true professionals who know their field inside out. Seeing a designer transform a ho-hum cover into a scorcher with a few swipes of the mouse; reading a once-rough manuscript that the editor has polished into a glorious gem; listening to a publicist describe the PR campaign that will make a book next month’s media must-have.

If you are about to hop on the publishing roller coaster, get ready to let go.

Imagine that your book is a start-up business. You’ve taken a great idea and developed it as far as business plan stage – words on the page (hey, just like a manuscript!). But to take it to market, you need capital.

You get two offers to develop your start-up. One is from a venture capital company that offers you a lump sum payment to buy out your idea. They will commercialise it and take it to market, and they will pay you a minority percentage of the profits – let’s say ten per cent.

The other is from a business angel. They propose to support your start-up by participating as an executive director. They will supply their expertise to you to commercialise your business idea, in exchange for a director’s fee and a minority percentage of the profits – let’s say fifteen per cent.

There are pros and cons either way. Do you take the certainty of a lump sum and relinquish your majority hold, or do you pay for an injection of expertise and retain your majority stake?

There is no right answer.

The traditional publishing deal is a bait and switch game. What you think you’re getting is money in the hand with more to come. What you’re actually getting is an initial payment acknowledging your book’s commercial potential, then a minority percentage of all future earnings.

In writing your book, you have created an asset. Sell or hold, it’s your choice.

What’s it all about? Parenting with Soul is for parents with no time to be spiritual. Is it possible to find a deeper meaning to life at the bottom of the laundry basket?

Parenting with Soul won’t tell you what to believe, but it will show you how to make spirituality part of your family’s life. It is for parents of every spiritual style and flavour – whether your spirituality is active or dormant, set in concrete or a work in progress. And it is short and easy to flick through, so even the most time-poor parent can dip in and get something from it.

I’ve set up a Facebook page called Parenting with Soul (no surprises there).  Over the next three months, I’ll be posting discussion topics. I’d love it if you could stop by and offer your thoughts. There’s also a survey you can take, if you want to hit all the big questions in one fell swoop.

The sorts of things we’ll be discussing include:

• how do you answer your children’s Big Questions about life and death and God?
• the God of small things – how to find joy at the bottom of the laundry basket
• the cult of busyness – when there’s so much to do, how do you slow down?
• dealing with the devilish challenge of mother guilt

I think there needs to be a place where parents can meet up and talk about the deeper things in life, and how to fit a bit of soul into a busy parent’s day. I’m hoping that the Parenting with Soul Facebook page will become a ‘meeting place’ for people who want to make meditation, celebration and joy a daily part of their lives – so long as they can fit it in between the school run and the grocery shopping. The plan is that we will all benefit from the discussion. And if there are posts that I’d like to quote in my book, I’ll get in touch directly to ask if I can quote you.

Look forward to seeing you at Parenting With Soul on Facebook. Just go to Facebook and type in ‘parenting with soul’. If you’re not into Facebook, you can also join in the discussion here on my blog.

The Red Hill Publishing team is launching their latest book this week. It’s a memoir that will excite anyone with an interest in Papua New Guinea.

Titled Big Road and written by Bob Cleland, it is a memoir about life in the New Guinea Highlands in the 1950s. Bob was one of a team of young Australian patrol officers charged with a triple role encompassing magistrate, policeman and administrator, working with tribes that had previously settled disputes with axes and arrows. Bob was also one of the officers responsible for overseeing the building of the Highlands Highway – the ‘big road’ – that was carved out of the mountains using shovels, sweat and tenacity. It’s a very personal tale that paints a vivid picture of the Highlands and the mingling of two cultures.

The launch is open to anyone interested in PNG or remarkable memoirs in general. It’s being held on Tuesday 8 June from 6pm at Samsara Cafe – 20 Walsh Street, Milton, Brisbane.

RSVPs are ESSENTIAL; please reply no  later than June 7 to rsvp@redhill.me.