Jacinta Lou – Writer

Category: assessments

  • My Writing Journey: Successes and Future Goals for 2026

    My Writing Journey: Successes and Future Goals for 2026

    2025 has been and continues to be quite a year. In so many ways.

    On a personal level – I have had success with my writing. The highlight of course my contract with Wombat Books for two early readers.

    In addition with my adult writing I had a tribute to my Dad published in the latest Grieve Anthology. And one of my poems will be published in an upcoming anthology, Her Beauty and Her Terror.

    And, drum roll please, Jacinta Lou has appeared in print for the first time in a wonderful fundraising anthology of whimsy put together by Tasmanian author, Ann Martin.

    The Ballad of Jubal Jacques includes some of Tasmania’s best authors and illustrators. I might have to believe I’m a writer 🙂

    My stories, Aisha and the Olive Tree, and The Book are both in the style of fables and I really enjoyed writing them. The book is available on amazon and all proceeds are for refugees.

    So what is happening now? Well it’s been non stop writing and submitting. The submitting has been picture books. I live in hope I will publish one at some stage. But I’ve expanded my writing to include longer fiction for children.

    I entered a junior fiction short story into an anthology competition and I’m currently working on a young adult short story for another anthology competion.

    So next year I will continue to work on early readers and junior fiction generally and of course, picture books. But my major focus will be a young adult novel I shelved in 2021.

    I found the novel recently and I really enjoyed reading it so I think it’s worth finishing. I’m working with other kidlit novelists to hold each other accountable by setting targets. According to the schedule I have until March to complete the first draft. I’m thirty thousand words in so it feels achievable? What’s it about? Well all I will say for now is that it’s a thriller; full of mystery and intrigue!

    My goals for 2026? It will be the year I learn to build a new webpage. The year my first novel will be sent for appraisal and the year I learn all I can about marketing and school visits in preparation for my 2027 book launch.

    And like every writer, I’m also hoping for more contracts.

    2025 has been a challenging year for children around the world being subjected to hardships and danger no child should endure and if I could give those children one gift, it would be hope.

    Hope for humanity and hope for a peaceful and just future.

    I’m deciding to go forward into 2026 with hope!

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  • It’s Been a Minute

    It’s Been a Minute

    It’s been quite a while since I have posted. I have written a few entries but I didn’t post them. So here is a short recap of the last few months.

    There have been a couple of huge highlights. The first was matching with Scholastic in my ASA Literary Speed Dating round. It meant I was invited to send the manuscript I pitched to them. It was so exciting and I can tell you; I had everything crossed.

    The second big thing was being awarded an Australian Society of Authors/Copyright Agency mentorship for 2024. This is a very big deal, and I have been dancing ever since.

    Both things involved the same manuscript. Scholastic decided not to offer me a contract but now I have twenty hours of mentoring to get it to a standard. Someone will say ‘yes’ to publishing it one day. That’s the dream.

    In the meantime, I’ve booked assessments at CYA with this and other manuscripts so still moving forward.

    Now for the low points. The lowest point was finding Rex, our rooster, quite lame. Everyone was away, and I had no idea how to help him. He is huge and has massive spurs. I rounded him up into a small enclosure so he couldn’t move around and set him up with his favourite seeds and some water.

    Neighbours suggested I have him prepared for the pot, but I could never do that to a pet, so I googled his likelihood of recovery and decided my course of action was the best way forward. It lasted a day or so until Rex was so stressed worrying about his hens, he broke out and dragged himself to where he could see them. So we had to lock them all up to stop him from moving.

    You don’t realise how noisy roosters are until they stop chatting and crowing. And I didn’t realise how attached I was to this gorgeous bird until I contemplated life without him.

    And that brings me to the other low point. What is happening in Palestine. My author Instagram was the first to alert me to what was happening to the children of Gaza and I agreed with the thoughts of other kidlit creators; If you write for kids, fight for kids. And I have put most of my energy into keeping informed, researching the history, writing to politicians and advocating for the children caught up in this horrendous situation. I have also written stories inspired by my thoughts and one will be published in a fundraising anthology later this year.

    It is all-consuming, but unlike the people in Palestine, we can take a break. We can look at the beauty in our world with new gratitude and use that energy to fight harder.

    I have thought a lot about why some of us are born to relative freedom and others to ongoing hardship. It isn’t fair. But what I have noticed is the resilience and resourcefulness of the Palestinians. If bombs were dropping on me, I’d be hiding in a corner quivering. But the people of Gaza get on with life as best they can. They value life and each other. Perhaps knowing it might be a short life does that?

    And back to Rex. Every afternoon I walk up to his enclosure and when he sees me, he gathers his chickens and they run up to meet me, knowing they are going to get some supper while I secure their gate.

    I don’t know if you have seen a rooster run, or had a chat while you get his food, but it is impossible to be sad when you see a rooster run.

    So Rex became my way to keep balance; to keep grounded; to keep sane. So the thought of losing him was almost more than I could cope with.

    The tears I cried for almost a day were not about him. They were the locked up emotions I hadn’t allowed myself to express. But they needed to be expressed.

    Advocating for children has inspired me to keep writing. My stories have always centred on breaking down barriers. The story I will be working on in my mentorship is about starting conversations about othering. Breaking down barriers before they occur. Questioning the status quo. The importance of finding things in common.

    I hope one of my stories gets noticed soon. I have promised myself I will pay to have my website upgraded from my feeble attempts. But in the meantime. Here is my blog 🙂

    Oh, and great news. Rex started to walk again and is crowing and chatting and he has even started running. And he is a dad to two enormous chickens.

    • Speed Dating – the literary kind!

      Speed Dating – the literary kind!

      This year I’ve devoted my energy to having my writing assessed and working on improving my craft. Writing is a craft. Writing picture books is a craft I am still working on. Those deceptively simple texts require so much work. Each word has to earn its place. Each story has to impress a publisher, get through their acquisitions process and ultimately be something people will buy.

      Even if you get the story right, it might not fit with what publishers are looking for. Maybe you sent it to the wrong publisher and it doesn’t fit their brand. Maybe it just doesn’t pop enough for a yes. So many reasons it might not be accepted that have nothing to do with how well you write. Things you can’t control. But writing is within your control and so this year I have had assessments with editors and at CYA. I’ve entered competitions. I’ve worked on writing short stories and poems for children. I’ve participated in critique groups. All with the goal of improving my writing.

      But have I done enough?

      Back to speed dating. No, not that kind. Who has the time? I honestly can’t remember the last time I went on a date, speedy or otherwise. But that is a story for another time…maybe 🙂

      Literary speed dating is run by the Australian Society of Authors, ASA, and they run several rounds each year. This round I was lucky enough to get two spots and now I’m preparing my three minute pitches to two publishing houses.

      I say lucky because the system crashed and I think I was so lucky to catch a window when the system was working. I don’t think I would get through otherwise. I’m slow on a keyboard!

      I’ll have three minutes to demonstrate to the publishers my story is worth a look! Three minutes to sell my story!

      I’m nervous but excited. I have done all I can to be ready and the rest is down to if they want to read my story. and that is down to how well I pitch!

      I’m still fiddling around with the pitch. That’s another skill I’ve been learning. I’ve organised some of my critique partners to listen so I can practice. It’s exciting.

      And absolutely terrifying!

      I’m pitching a story I haven’t released into the world yet so they will get first look if I pitch well enough.

      If they like my pitch, if it fits their brand and if they want to know more, they will ask for the manuscript. If not I will start sending it out to other publishers. It’s a story I’m quite passionate about so I will keep trying.

      You never know where a Yes will come from. It might come from a story found in the slush pile. It might come from a CYA assessment. Or it might come from three minutes spent pitching to publishers through ASA’s Literary Speed Dating.

      I’ll keep working and hoping one day it will be a YES.

      Watch this space!

      • Time to go on! – Submission ‘Stage Fright!’

        Time to go on! – Submission ‘Stage Fright!’

        Like most writers, I started writing books for children when my children were small. I’ve lost all trace of anything written back then, but I still have some scribblings I did for my eldest granddaughter, which I may resurrect at some stage.

        In 2021, I did a picture writing course with Zanni Louise through the Australian Writers Centre and I fell in love. I did another course in 2022 through The Sunshine House, and I sent out a couple of stories to the crashingly loud sound of silence!

        I have been active in critiques groups and the kidlit community, so I decided 2023 was the year of assessments. Time to get my existing stories into shape to send out into the world. Or to shelve them. I had assessments with editors and of course, CYA. It’s been hectic!

        So here I am in the closing scenes of 2023 getting ready to send my stories out into the world of publishers!

        I still don’t think they are ready and I’ve heard stories of writers who have taken decades to write the perfect story, but I’m not sure I have that amount of time, so ready or not, here they come!

        I have zero expectations, but it was my plan to have stories to send out, so I’m sticking to the plan!

        I belong to a couple of fabulous critique groups and one in particular has a very encouraging cheer leader who brings us along with her enthusiasm. Yes! We can do this! Eeek – I hope at least one of us has success. That’s the best thing about writing for children. Although we all strive for the same thing, there is no sense of competition and we genuinely celebrate other writer’s success. Well, maybe there is a little disappointment, but we are mostly very excited for every writer who succeeds!

        So, in the past week, I have entered two stories to ‘Pitch it’, run by Just Write for Kids Australia, yesterday I was successful in booking two spots in the Australian Society of Author’s Literary Speed dating, to be held later in October and I sent a story out to a publisher! Tomorrow I’ll be sending out more stories and then I will start work on my next batch, patiently waiting in the wings, to get them ready to go out into the world!

        I’m not great at sending things out. I seem to get ‘stage fright’ once I know I am writing a submission and I stutter and stammer and write ridiculous things in my cover letters. Well I did last year. I cringe thinking about it. But in my defence, I did have pneumonia, so everything made perfect sense at the time. And why is it, typos and repeated words etc ONLY become visible AFTER you hit send?

        It’s been a year, so hopefully there have been so many submissions, commissioning editors will have forgotten me. Please let them forget!

        So, I’m on track. My babies are going out into the big wide world of publishing and I wish them every success in finding a home. I will welcome them back at any time, but I may push them out somewhere else and give them the best chance. I really don’t want them to be homeless.

        Now to work out how to conquer ‘submission stage fright’ and write great covering letters! Ironically, I have never experienced actual stage fright. Perhaps writing means more to me 🙂

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      • Car Trouble and Comfort Zones

        Car Trouble and Comfort Zones

        Is there anything worse than car trouble? I’m sure there are a million things worse, but when you live in the bush with no public transport, car trouble can feel like the end of the world.

        But I’m a hermit, I hear you say, and that is true, but I still need to get to the shops, take my grandson to school and, most importantly, pick up books from the post office or the library. It’s a 30 km round trip, so too far to walk. Car trouble is serious!

        I’ve known my car was dying for a while, so only drove it when I had to while I saved for a replacement. But my anxiety driving it increased to the extent I had to take action.

        Facebook market place. I’ve always bought from car dealers, but as this last one came from a dealer with preexisting problems they wouldn’t cover, I saw no advantage going back, so I searched for vehicles, and more importantly, reputable sellers. It’s a minefield out there.

        My rusty investigative skills came in handy. If a deal looked too good to be true, I looked up the seller to see if they were even in Tasmania. Quite a few weren’t. If I answered an add and the seller was pushy or wanted a deposit before I’d even seen the car, block and move on. Eventually, I found a car advertised by someone with a mutual friend. Now that in no way guarantees the car, but I did trust the seller was a real person and I answered straight away. I now own that car and the mechanic said it was safe to drive and in good condition for its age. One problem solved.

        Now I had to sell my dying car. Still going but not healthy. Aha – this is the reason I buy from car yards. I can get rid of my other car with no hassles.

        I advertised on FB, making sure I worded the advert to specify the car was dying and only suitable for a mechanic or someone who wanted it for parts. I had zero expectations.

        Within minutes, my phone was blowing up with responses. Over thirty before I switched it off. The person I sold it to was initially very pushy, so I wouldn’t deal with him, but had I understood the industry, I would have sold my car for the asking price in five minutes. As it was, I sold it for the price I wanted within twenty minutes and organised to meet the next day to complete the transaction.

        I WAS NOT going to meet an unknown person with a tow truck in the bush at night! Some comfort zones are safety zones. No need to stretch those!

        It seems there is a whole word of people who buy cars like mine and rebuild, resell or scrap and getting in first is quite competitive, hence the pushiness. You learn something new with each new experience.

        So what has any of this got to do with writing picture books? I’m glad you asked. This year has been a year of stretching myself and gaining confidence in my writing and myself as a writer in a very competitive (but very kind and not pushy) industry. I’ve conquered some fears with CYA and I’m working up to submissions.

        Once upon a time I would never have e dreamt of selling a car on my own. Even buying filled me with dread. I tend to drive within the car’s capacity until I’m forced to take action.

        Parents are good sounding boards, even if they don’t know about the subject. Dad always knew the questions to ask and what to look for, but I’ve lost mine so this one, I had to do alone. And I think facing my fears with CYA made me strong enough to face my fears about buying and selling my car.

        I think if you aren’t putting yourself out of your comfort zone, just a bit, that zone shrinks and your world gets smaller. I’ve seen it in myself and others, especially after lockdowns and retirement.

        It’s easy to live a small life. But, as Malcolm Fraser once said, ‘life wasn’t meant to be easy!’

        What if you faced a fear or three and stretched what is comfortable? What would happen then? What if you made your life, ‘not easy’ a little bit at a time?

        For me – I now have a car I feel safe in and can leave the property more often. I also know I will never put up with a broken car because the process of changing it is hard.

        Stretching the comfort zone becomes an ever-increasing circle.

        I stretched by having assessments at CYA. That gave me the confidence to do something about my car and now I’ve done that and sorted out all the insurance, registrations, etc. I will use that sense of accomplishment to submit some stories.

        Coffee first!

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      • The Morning After CYA

        The Morning After CYA

        The CYA conference 2023 is over, oh and before I forget, CYA stands for Children, Young Adult, and Adult Writers’ and Illustrators’ Conference. Well worth a look for writers and illustrators of all genres. Any way, back to what I was saying. The conference is over so for me, getting manuscripts ready for the competitions, booking assessments and preparing submissions, attending assessments and the conference over four weekends on zoom has kept me busy from January till yesterday and I am exhausted.

        Was it worth it? Yes, I think so. Too tired to tell right now. But I’m going to say YES! I received some great feedback both positive and constructive and listened to some great presentations along the way. In the breaks we were put into breakout rooms on zoom and so it was also a great opportunity to meet other writers. I have a better idea of where my writing sits and even though no contracts were offered to a chorus of dancing unicorns, the dream is still alive. Well at least it will be once I’ve had some sleep.

        Assessments can be confusing and I’m sure I looked like a stunned mullet half the time as I worked my mind around the differing views of editors on the same manuscript. But that’s part of it. Finding a home for your writing is about finding the person who sees it the same way you do, or who can give you feedback to get it where you want it to go.

        It’s challenging sitting and listening to words that don’t support your vision of your amazing, perfectly crafted manuscript. And I’m sure it’s challenging for editors to give constructive feedback. It’s a lot easier to receive these words in written form via manuscript assessments, but I decided to do it via CYA this year and I’m glad I did. I think. I got to meet some amazing editors and there aren’t many opportunities to meet face to face, especially in Tasmania.

        My approach to assessments was just to listen and take notes as you only have 15 minutes to look at two picture books. So I probably bumbled through responses when asked questions. I wanted to know what they thought. But they wanted to know about me as well. I’ll be better prepared next time – and yes, there will be a next time.

        My only question was, do my stories have potential? And it seems the ones I had assessed do so now I have to do the ‘Verk’, as Jen Storer would say, and edit, rewrite, restructure until I feel they are ready for another assessment or I submit them to publishers. And that’s a whole other journey!

        Stay tuned as I work to keep the negative Nellie and imposter syndrome at bay!

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      • CYA – First Assessments – Self Belief Growing!

        CYA – First Assessments – Self Belief Growing!

        Is it too early to ask for CYA gift cards for Christmas?

        I had two assessments this weekend and I’m so relieved I didn’t shred my stories and run away and hide. Turns out both editors are of the opinion I can write which filled my heart with joy!

        Both of these editors had different stories so I got feedback on four stories which will help me decide whether to keep working on them now, or in the future.

        No offers of contracts with unicorns cheering in the background but a real feeling I am heading in the right direction!

        I have more assessments to come. Hoping for more useful feedback! Wishing for unicorns 🙂

        Imposter syndrome, feeling like nothing you do is good enough etc is incredibly annoying and can be debilitating. It is for me.

        I’ve struggled with self belief for ever, so when someone thinks something I did was good, it feels like, wow – happy dance, huge smile, want to hug the world! And its a genuine surprise.

        I will take this external validation and tuck it into my growing self belief in myself as a writer. I must have a little bit of belief, right? Or why am I doing it?

        The most important message I gained from these assessments is to trust myself.

        I am a writer and I will publish books for children!

        I really want to succeed so I don’t want this pesky Negative Nellie who lives in my head to muck things up for me. Might be a story in that.

        How have you silenced your negative self talk? Perhaps you have never had any? Love to hear your stratagies!

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        © Jacinta Lou 2023

      • Imposter Syndrome and CYA

        Imposter Syndrome and CYA

        CYA is happening!

        It’s two days till I meet my first editor for a CYA assessment. I’m looking at the stories I sent her and I want to pull them back through the internet and throw them in the bin. What was I thinking?

        But – the money has been paid, the assessment booked and I’ve had my lesson on how zoom operates during assessments so there is no going back.

        It’s been months since I booked my first assessments. Yet it feels like it’s happened way too quickly!

        As my anxiety grows, I wonder what it is I’m scared of? I made such a mess of submitting my stories (I was recovering from pneumonia) but the amazing folk who run CYA untangled the mess and stories were sent to editors. Are they the best stories? No. Does it matter? Well, maybe, but no.

        These are assessments, not pitches, so the hope is the editor will give me enough guidance to improve my stories. Assessments, not pitches. I keep reminding myself.

        Of course, in the back of everybody’s mind, including mine, is the hope the editor will be so impressed they will ask to see your stories again. Wouldn’t that be amazing!

        In fantasy land, they come to the assessment with a contract ready for you to sign while unicorns cheer from the sidelines!

        But we don’t live in fantasy land…except when we are writing!

        The real fear is they will look at my stories and wonder why I bothered. A bit like I am wondering now. Am I exposing myself to these wonderful editors as someone who cannot write? Is this how others feel two nights before assessments begin?

        I’ve seen similar posts on FB and in writing groups so I know I’m not alone, but those other people can write. What if I can’t!

        Of course, none of this could be happening and we wouldn’t be having these amazing opportunities without the amazing CYA team. Particularly Tina and Shawn. They dealt with my stress and booboos when submitting like the true professional they are. I’ll be better next year – I promise! And of course if I’m making mistakes, there must be others? Tell me there were others.

        And thank you to the editors and industry reps who are spending the time assessing and talking to those of us who will be hanging off their every words, hoping they will move us forward in our quest to be published!

        Hats off to the CYA Team! And best of luck to my fellow writers and illustrators who are facing their fears and putting themselves, and their work in front of the industry we all want to be a part of.

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