AMRA PAJALIC
  • Home
    • Blog
    • About Me
    • Press Kit
    • Za Bosance
    • Resources for Teachers >
      • Remote Learning >
        • Narrative Writing
        • Poetry Writing
        • Fun activities
        • Spelling activities
    • My Newsletter
    • News & Events
    • Book Me >
      • Aspiring writers >
        • Six things writers should do
        • Young Adult Books
        • Writing tips for young people
    • Articles
    • My Books >
      • Young Adult >
        • Cuckoos Song
        • Sassy Saints Series >
          • Sabiha's Dilemma >
            • The Good Daughter
          • Alma's Loyalty
          • Jesse's Triumph
          • Sassy Saints Series Books 1-3
        • The Climb
      • Memoir >
        • Things Nobody Knows But Me
        • Teacher Teacher anthology
        • Growing up Muslim in Australia
        • Meet Me at the Intersection
        • Rebellious Daughters
        • St Albans piece
      • Romance >
        • Dreams of Destiny Romance Series >
          • Hollywood Dreams
          • Vintage Dreams
          • Vengeful Dreams
        • Return to Me
        • Kings of the Bay Romance Series >
          • That One Summer Anthology
      • Dark Fiction Horror >
        • WomanOnTheEdgeShortStory
    • Contact
    • Amra's Writing Room
    • Authorly Advice
    • Podcast >
      • Benefits of a residency
      • Journey to Self Publishing
      • The Art of the pitch
      • Balancing the pen and the paycheck
      • Short stories for publication portfolio
    • Pishukin Press
    • Grant Writing Course
  • My Shop

I learnt not to compete in the ‘hardship Olympics’ with my daughter

30/3/2023

0 Comments

 
My latest article on SBS Voices 'I learnt not to compete in the ‘hardship Olympics’ with my daughter.' I think this is a common phenomenon with our parents sacrificing for us and then trying to get us to appreciate our opportunities, instead making it feel like we have no right to feel bad about problems. And then I did it! https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/family/article/2023/03/23/i-learnt-not-compete-hardship-olympics-my-daughter

0 Comments

26th wedding anniversary

29/3/2023

0 Comments

 
​It's my 26th wedding anniversary. I can't believe that I have been married to this handsome fella for 26 years. We've had many lives, many adventures, the highs of highs and the lows of lows, and we keep going, strong and together. I am so happy to have you to witness my life with and can only hope we have another 26 years more. 
0 Comments

sabiha character art

28/3/2023

0 Comments

 
Using Stock Image AI through App Sumo and am experimenting to create character art for the Sassy Saints Series. Sabiha is the main character that started the series. Originally inspired by my grunge-loving ways as a teen, she became who I wished I had been-fierce and tough, someone who didn't care what others thought because she had grown up with a mother who was a bipolar sufferer and so developed a tough veneer, loyal to a fault with a sarcastic mouth that got her in trouble. I gave her some of my favourite adolescent memories of mischief. 

The Sassy Saints series is about six young people searching for identity and belonging. The first two are out: Sabiha's Dilemma and Alma's Loyalty. The third, Jesse's Triumph, is soon to be published.
​
https://www.amrapajalic.com/sassy_saints_series.html
Picture
0 Comments

my essay st albans in meanjin

27/3/2023

0 Comments

 
My latest essay St Albans in Meanjin journal about being a teacher at a government high school, being working class and from a migrant family caught between cultures, about racism and prejudice and assimilation, but mostly a love letter to my suburb. It’s behind a paywall and available to subscribers. https://meanjin.com.au/essays/st-albans/
0 Comments

to pitch or not to pitch

27/3/2023

0 Comments

 
All I need is a break, time to recover and let my brain swirl, and new pitches come. It's always a force of will pitching new stories and putting myself out there, but the more I do it, the more it gets easier. I have a document titled pitches and I collect them all there, noting where I have submitted and been rejected, so I can return to a pitch and re-focus it in a new way for another publication. In the beginning I could only pitch on the back of a successful acceptance, using my joy as fuel to push through the imposter syndrome, but as I have created a foundation of success I am developing more confidence and the rejections roll off without a sting. So to pitch or not to pitch is never a question. Take a deep breath and launch yourself out into the world. This morning I submitted two pitches and followed up on another. I hope one of them lands, but if not, I'll re-pitch them again somewhere else
Picture
0 Comments

benefits of applying for a emdg grant

24/3/2023

0 Comments

 
The Export Market Development Grant is open to independent authors to promote their books internationally. Check out my online course Grants for Australian Writers and Publishing Businesses to find out how to apply and help you build your author business. 
https://boldauthors.newzenler.com/courses/grantsforaustralianwriters


0 Comments

the climb-a ya romance

23/3/2023

0 Comments

 
The Climb was originally inspired by a chapter that never made it into my memoir Things Nobody Knows But Me, about my high school puppy love. Our relationship was a slow burn and our timing timing was always slightly off and he was always slightly immature and not ready for me, but he was the first boy who told me he loved me, who showed it, and with whom I shared my first romantic kiss of passion. 

By creating Noah and Zephyra I had the opportunity to put things to write and tell a story about two friends and their romantic misadventures as they try and work out whether they should be more than friends. By writing in an alternating point of view I could play with my favourite romantic tropes of slow burn romance and friends to lovers.

The Climb references the physical climb of their bike marathon as well as Noah and Zephyra’s emotional climb as they traverse new territory of being more than friends and try and hit the right timing where they are both interested in each other at the same time.
​
https://www.amrapajalic.com/the-climb.html

0 Comments

Goldcoast holiday is drawing to a close

23/3/2023

0 Comments

 
Goldcoast holiday is drawing to a close with our return tomorrow. Some beautiful memories: the lovely swimming pool at the hotel and the beach a 2 minute walk away, the ferry ride on the Nerang and the skyline in the sunset, Movieworld a bit of a let-down, the skywalk rainforest in Tamborine was absolutely beautiful and this little town was just a gorgeous little gem where we did quite a bit of retail therapy, Seaworld and the lionseal show was so much fun. Then we went on the Trident ride and sat in a flimsy chair 42 metres above the ground. There were whimpers, trembling limbs and nausea. It will be a funny story, one day. But not today. Not today.
0 Comments

the cuckoo's song out in all formats

22/3/2023

0 Comments

 
My short story collection The Cuckoo's Song is 20 years in the making featuring my prize-winning and unpublished stories. It deals with themes that represent who I am. As I was parented by a mother who was a Bipolar sufferer I find myself coming back to themes that deal with mental health, especially within the context of Non-English-Speaking Communities as this places particular pressure on a sufferer and family due to stigma and lack of awareness.

Growing up I did not see myself represented in fiction and I write own voices stories exploring my Bosnian heritage and culture so that young people who have an ethnic cultural background feel validated in seeing their lives represented in fiction.

I love reading stories that explore the real life effects of being in a war and providing a slice of history. As a writer I love the process of immersing myself in real life research to write stories set during the Balkan War of 1992-1995 when Bosnia became an independent country.

Growing up raised by a single mother for most of my childhood, and then becoming a nuclear family when my mother married my stepfather, I am fascinated by the notions of family ties and family loyalty. I am also an advocate of LGBTQI rights and write characters who are part of this community.

'So devastatingly real' Maxine Beneba Clarke

I also wrote teaching notes for this collection with reading, research, analysis and writing activities.
amrapajalic.com/cuckoos-song.html
0 Comments

did you know about my grant writing experience?

21/3/2023

0 Comments

 
Did you know I have been successful in receiving creative development, residency and business grants to develop my author business? I've now partnered with www.BoldAuthors.com to deliver an online grant writing course that includes a step by step guide, a successful funding application for you to look and a a list of grants that you can apply for in Australia. 
boldauthors.com/courses/grantsforaustralianwriters
#EMDG #EMDGGrant #emdggrants #writinggrants #literarygrants #AustralianWriters #AustralianAuthors #AusLit #amwriting #writingcommunity #authorbusiness #amrapajalic #BoldAuthors #CreativeAustralia
Picture
0 Comments
<<Previous
    Picture

    Author

    Amra Pajalić is an award-winning author, an editor and teacher who draws on her Bosnian cultural heritage to write own voices stories for young people, who like her, are searching to mediate their identity and take pride in their diverse culture. She writes memoir, young adult and romance under the pen name Mae Archer.

    newsletter

    Sign up and receive free books.
    Picture

    Twitter feed

    Tweets by @AmraPajalic
    Follow Amra's board On Teaching on Pinterest.
    Follow Amra's board Memoir Blog Post series on Pinterest.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    April 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    December 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Author Feature
    Book Review
    Essay
    Memoir
    My Life
    My News
    Pishukin Press
    Plugs
    Poetry
    Publication
    Publishing
    Teaching
    Writing

Copyright Amra Pajalic 2025
  • Home
    • Blog
    • About Me
    • Press Kit
    • Za Bosance
    • Resources for Teachers >
      • Remote Learning >
        • Narrative Writing
        • Poetry Writing
        • Fun activities
        • Spelling activities
    • My Newsletter
    • News & Events
    • Book Me >
      • Aspiring writers >
        • Six things writers should do
        • Young Adult Books
        • Writing tips for young people
    • Articles
    • My Books >
      • Young Adult >
        • Cuckoos Song
        • Sassy Saints Series >
          • Sabiha's Dilemma >
            • The Good Daughter
          • Alma's Loyalty
          • Jesse's Triumph
          • Sassy Saints Series Books 1-3
        • The Climb
      • Memoir >
        • Things Nobody Knows But Me
        • Teacher Teacher anthology
        • Growing up Muslim in Australia
        • Meet Me at the Intersection
        • Rebellious Daughters
        • St Albans piece
      • Romance >
        • Dreams of Destiny Romance Series >
          • Hollywood Dreams
          • Vintage Dreams
          • Vengeful Dreams
        • Return to Me
        • Kings of the Bay Romance Series >
          • That One Summer Anthology
      • Dark Fiction Horror >
        • WomanOnTheEdgeShortStory
    • Contact
    • Amra's Writing Room
    • Authorly Advice
    • Podcast >
      • Benefits of a residency
      • Journey to Self Publishing
      • The Art of the pitch
      • Balancing the pen and the paycheck
      • Short stories for publication portfolio
    • Pishukin Press
    • Grant Writing Course
  • My Shop