There are times in this writing business when it feels like we have to wade through cement to get the words on the page. Othertimes it feels as effortless as stepping out and finding a rainbow at the end of our street. I found this rainbow last weekend at Mission Beach, North QLD, where I taught a workshop to a keen bunch of writers, all with great stories to tell. Nestled in them-thar hills that surround the iconic coconut palm beach, live a bunch of ordinary folk with extraordinary stories pouring out the ends of their pens. Family histories, travel memoirs, novels, childrens and young adult stories, blogs, short stories, poetry and more. Maybe it’s the high rainfall, the cyclones that come through like clockwork, the humidity, that makes ideas grow as fast as the jungle, but these people are always busy – cooking, gardening, farming, teaching, walking, swimming, marketing, and they still find time for writing. There are several writers’ groups in the area and workshops a plenty to attend. My workshop was part of  eight day’s activities run by the Mission Beach Community Arts Centre; writing, painting, history tours, painting, poetry and haiku walks. The Mission Arts Festival culminates in a word hanging and haiku writing event on the beach, where the haiku will  be written on the sand to be washed away by the sea. When you have talented artists and writers like Jacque Duffy involved you know it is going to be a creative time and when rainbows like this one arch across the sky ( apparently they are a common occurence) you begin to understand where all this creativity is coming from. But if you haven’t got a rainbow or beach at the end of your street you can always write one in, and remind yourself that writing doesn’t have to be a hard slog; it can be as joyous as a spontaneous burst of colour shimmering in the sky.

BOOKING NOW!  June: Desert Writers, July: Backstage Bali, Nov:Mekong Meditations, Dec:Burmese Temple Tour, January: Moroccan Caravan.