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On Signing a Publishing Contract and Getting to this Point
by Louise Allan | Oct 14, 2016 | THE SISTERS' SONG | 54 Comments
So, at long last, I got to sign one of these: A publishing contract. It took a while to reach my hot little hands and as soon as I'd signed it, I had to return it to the publisher for counter-signing, so I haven't been able to gaze at it and...

Shannon Meyerkort: Wearing Many Hats
by Louise Allan | Oct 10, 2016 | WRITERS IN THE ATTIC | 14 Comments
This week, local writer, Shannon Meyerkort, joins me in the attic. Shannon is a writer and blogger based in Perth, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has been published in various magazines, both print and online, has had short stories...

A Letter to My 12-year-old Self and Having the Freedom to Imagine
by Louise Allan | Oct 7, 2016 | CHILDHOOD ABUSE & TRAUMA, FAMILY AND PARENTING, MEMOIR | 10 Comments
This is a quick post to let everyone know where I've been writing this week: Jenn J McLeod invited me to be part of her series, 'A Letter to My Younger Self', so I wrote to my twelve-year-old self and, as it turned out, I had a fair bit...

Midweek Moment #60: A Floral Feast
by Louise Allan | Oct 6, 2016 | MIDWEEK MOMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHY | 11 Comments
Monique and I can't help ourselves when it comes to flowers, and I hope you're not bored that we're bringing more of them today. But they are beautiful, and it is Spring ... Long-term readers of this blog know I'm firmly in the Margaret Olley trenches when it...

Nadia L. King: Are My Boobs Guilty
by Louise Allan | Oct 3, 2016 | WRITERS IN THE ATTIC | 14 Comments
This week's post is a little different, but something I think all women of a certain age will relate to, so keep reading ... Nadia L. King was born in Dublin, Ireland, in the 1970s. Her first book “Jenna’s Truth” will be published this month by Aulexic...

Cute Photos of Cygnets to Make Your Day
by Louise Allan | Sep 29, 2016 | MIDWEEK MOMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHY | 8 Comments
We're giving Midweek Moment a miss this week as Monique's been flat-out at work. I thought I'd bring you some photos anyway, in the hope they'll brighten your day as they did mine. Some weeks I find it hard to squeeze in the time for photography, especially when...

Elisabeth Hanscombe: Being a Writer and a Psychologist
by Louise Allan | Sep 26, 2016 | WRITERS IN THE ATTIC | 14 Comments
Today, a good friend of mine, Elisabeth Hanscombe, steps into the attic to write about what writing means to her and the difficulties of squeezing it in around a heavy working schedule. I met Elisabeth through blogging, in particular through a...

Midweek Moment #59: Saying it With Flowers
by Louise Allan | Sep 21, 2016 | MIDWEEK MOMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHY | 0 Comments
We've been busy photographing flowers again this week. Well, it is spring, and they are pretty, and they're also more co-operative than animate wildlife. This orchid in my photo was a gift from a friend. It has pride of place on my kitchen bench, and this week it's...

Maureen Helen: On the Edge of Eighty
by Louise Allan | Sep 19, 2016 | WRITERS IN THE ATTIC | 34 Comments
Every week when I introduce the next writer in the attic, I say how excited I am to welcome them as my guest. It's probably starting to sound as if I'm just saying it because I must, but it's true. Every week I am excited—and...

Thinking Out Loud: On Assessing Kids
by Louise Allan | Sep 17, 2016 | FAMILY AND PARENTING | 12 Comments
At the end of each year, I pack away my kids' school work into boxes. It takes me hours to sift through, mainly because there's so much that catches my eye and I can't help but read it. I'm always surprised, and often...

Midweek Moment #58: Everlastings Everywhere
by Louise Allan | Sep 15, 2016 | MIDWEEK MOMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHY | 2 Comments
Everlastings seem to be everywhere at the moment, including a forest of them on a verge just down the street from our house. They cover the whole verge, and have turned a boring streetscape into a floral feast for the eyes. The other day, I tied the dogs up to a...

Monique Mulligan: On Self-Doubt and Perfectionism
by Louise Allan | Sep 12, 2016 | WRITERS IN THE ATTIC | 13 Comments
I'm excited to welcome my good friend, Monique Mulligan, into the attic today. Many of you already know Monique from our Midweek Moments, and you've seen her wonderful photography. Today you get to see another side of her as she shares...

Some Thoughts on Death and Dying
by Louise Allan | Sep 10, 2016 | FAMILY AND PARENTING, MEMOIR, PHOTOGRAPHY | 30 Comments
There's been a bit of an existential theme happening with my kids lately, and they've wanted to talk about death and dying and the universe. My older son wrote a poem about a child's funeral. He came up and read it to me and, naturally, it...

Midweek Moment #56 and #57—A 2-for-1 Special!
by Louise Allan | Sep 7, 2016 | MIDWEEK MOMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHY | 6 Comments
Life swept Monique and I up in a whirlwind last week so we weren’t able to share a Midweek Moment. My excuses are two book launches, a trip down south, and kid commitments. I'm also trying to make inroads into Novel #2 and preparing my website for an update—there are...

Robyn Mundy: Being a Travelling Writer
by Louise Allan | Sep 5, 2016 | WRITERS IN THE ATTIC | 12 Comments
I have a special guest in the attic today, all the way from Norway where she's just returned from a voyage to the Arctic: Robyn Mundy. Robyn is the author of the novels Wildlight and The Nature of Ice, and is co-author of the young...