2020 Stocktake
At the risk of repeating what everyone else is saying, I’m pretty sure most of us will be waving a hearty good riddance to 2020 at midnight tonight, booting it over the nearest horizon and hoping for a kinder 2021. A year without a new pandemic is high on my priority...
Ewa Ramsey: Not Writing Made Me The Writer I Am, and Other Scary Stories
After a much-needed break from blogging over the past couple of weeks, I'm happy to pop back in today and welcome début author, Ewa Ramsey, to the attic. Ewa's novel, The Morbids, was recently released by Allen and Unwin. In this piece, Ewa muses about the reasons she...
Rose Van Son: Unravelling the Self
In the attic this week is my dear friend, Western Australian poet, Rose Van Son. Rose is a huge supporter of the WA writing community, so I'm thrilled to be able to share her words here in the attic. In this post, Rose write about her childhood memories, her love of...
Skylar J. Wynter: Interview With An Alter-Ego
I have a début author on the blog today, whose book, Pieces of Humanity, a collection of poetry and prose, has just been published by Daisy Lane Publishing. Skylar's a member of one of my mentoring groups, and it's been a thrill to watch the lead-up to publication...
Mirandi Riwoe: Doesn’t Everyone Want to Be a Writer?
Today I welcome much-lauded writer and author, Mirandi Riwoe, to the attic. There's so much gorgeousness in Mirandi's post about her childhood writing dreams, the first book she ever wrote and her surprise at discovering not everybody wants to write. So read on ......
Monique Mulligan: A Conversation With My Character
I'm so thrilled to welcome this week's guest back to the attic, Monique Mulligan. Monique has been a visitor here on quite a few occasions, including when she wrote a post for the attic in 2016 and more frequently when we shared a photo every Wednesday as part of our...
Dan Kaufman: The joys and perils of writing autofiction
This week, I welcome Dan Kaufman to the attic. I'm sure readers will appreciate this piece, not just for its humour but also its honesty: not many people have the courage to parody their behaviour or that of their gender. I take my hat off to you, Dan, in gratitude....
Rebecca Higgie: Writing in Secret
I'm thrilled to have Rebecca Higgie, début novelist and winner of the 2019 Fogarty Literary Award, join me in the attic today. Oh gosh, I can't tell you how much I related to her post. As I read, I was reminded of the years I wrote in secret, and of the many times...
Christine Bell: Who Am I to Write This Book?
I'm thrilled to welcome author Christine Bell to the attic. Chris signed up to write this piece way back in April, when we didn't know each other. However, for the past couple of weeks we've been writing together almost daily, albeit via a screen, at the virtual...
Karina Kilmore: From Fact to Fiction
My guest in the attic this week is Karina Kilmore, who writes about how hard she found the move from journalism to crime writing and how much of herself she unwittingly wrote into her character. Please read on: Karina is a finance journalist during business hours and...
Judy Powell: Writing Crime
I don't believe I've had an archaeologist visit the attic before, so please welcome Judy Powell to tell us about her historical crime novel, The Brisbane Line. Judy is a historian and archaeologist who has a passion for bringing the past to life. She's worked as a...
Katherine Scholes: Hunting the Muse
I'm thrilled to share this essay of Katherine Scholes in the attic today. It's about writing her latest novel, The Beautiful Mother, the story of a woman who has devoted herself to the study of humans while denying the call of motherhood, who finds her heart torn open...
Caroline Beecham: The Power of Secrets and Settings
I thoroughly enjoyed Caroline's post for the attic about the research behind her third historical novel, Finding Eadie. If you love reading or writing historical fiction and stories about WWII, you'll enjoy this post, too. Caroline is a novelist, writer and producer....
K.M. Allan: Learning From Your Words
I came to know today's guest in the attic, KM Allan (no relation!) through her fabulous blog which is full of writing tips and tricks. So, I'm thrilled to welcome her to the attic today: KM Allan is the author of the urban YA fantasy series, Blackbirch. The first two...
Susan Francis: Why I Write
I never tire of reading about why writers write—the reasons are many and varied, and the pathways as divergent as each individual writer. But what always strikes me, too, are the similarities: that feeling of never quite belonging, of never quite being good enough....
