Give yourself a writerly gift this Christmas

I was going to make this a ‘5 gifts for the writer in your life’ kind of post, but then I thought: ‘who am I kidding?’.

If you’re a writer, give yourself a gift this Christmas. I have 5 suggestions for you, and I might just buy them all for myself (or might have actually already bought several…). Because, why not?

And if you have the impulse to buy, do it right now because, frankly, Christmas is not far off… (All of these gifts are Aussie-based to give you a bit of last-minute wiggle room…)

Pilot 2018: A Diary For Writers
I confess, I have already purchased myself one of these. I like the quotes, I like the fact that it has all the writers’ festival info in it, I like being part of the ‘Writers’ Club’ by owning one. You should have one too.

Library Card Pouch
Okay, I bought myself one of these as well. I travel a bit these days and I find these pouch things invaluable for keeping my assorted phone cables, usbs, power do-dads and other bits and pieces together for author talks. And, really, who can resist a library card? Who?

Vinyl Album Record Journal
If you listen to the podcast, you’ll know that I bought my lovely friend and co-host Valerie Khoo a journal made from a damaged Bon Jovi vinyl record (that’s it below, with added cat in the background). She loved it. Book Boy also loved the Rolling Stones album version I bought him – he records his song lyrics in it. I cannot recommend Dave from Funky Journals enough for customer service and care, and he has a wide variety of artists and albums from which you can choose. Personally, I’m holding out for ‘Paperback Writer’ by The Beatles…

Literary Tea Co Tea
I have my own blend – seriously, the Allison Tait, which is a blend of organic black tea, cinnamon and vanilla – courtesy of the Australian Writers’ Centre Christmas party, and that’s why I have no hesitation in recommending tea from the Literary Tea Co for you or the writer in your life. Choose from a whole range of blends – Jane Eyre? Ernest Hemingway? Zelda Fitzgerald? – packaged beautifully in a steel tin. Gorgeous!

A writing course
You’ll need to be super-quick for this one! Right now, the Australian Writers’ Centre is offering discounts of 30-50 per cent of 12 amazing online courses, including all three of mine – Make Time To Write, Build Your Author Platform, Creative Writing 30-Day Bootcamp. Offer is only open until 11.59pm on Friday 15 December (AEDST). Buy now and access the course ANY TIME in the next 12 months.

What are you waiting for? Make 2018 the year you get that book finished.