Foal’s Bread by Gillian Mears
Foal's Bread by Gillian Mears was published 2011. It won the 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction, the 2012 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction, and was short-listed for the 2012 Miles Franklin Award. This is the summary...
My Journey to Writing
If someone had asked me a decade ago what I would be doing in ten years' time, writing a novel would not have been on the list, nor on the horizon. It wasn't even on the planet. I'd always thought of myself as Maths/Science orientated as I found...
Why Getting A New Dog Is Better Than Having Another Baby
As readers of this blog would already know, our eldest child moved out of home a few months ago leaving me feeling bereft and with empty arms. I wasn't quite ready to move on to the next phase of our lives—the one where the children leave. I...
More Images of Varuna
I'm on the downhill week of my stay at Varuna and I'll be sad to leave this enchanted place. I've been hard at work on my novel. Last week, I met with Carol Major, one of the consultants here, who gave me some wise and valuable suggestions for my novel. I've...
Images of Varuna
Welcome to Varuna: This is my home for the next two weeks. For anyone who doesn't know, Varuna is in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. It was the family home of Eric and Eleanor Dark, and since 1989 it has served as a writers' centre. Writers come to work on...
Cicada, by Moira McKinnon
'Cicada' is Moira McKinnon's first novel and what an epic it is. Moira is a doctor who has worked extensively in the Kimberley. The landscape and the people obviously left their mark, and this is not the first time she has written about the area—her...
Happy Birthday, Dear Blog
The blog turned one-year-old this week, on March 25th to be exact. Just before its first birthday, the blog hit 20,000 views. Considering that it doesn't have a theme, I don't blog on a particular subject of expertise, and I don't have a product (yet), I was...
The Novel: An Update
I haven’t been writing as much for the blog, nor stalking reading and commenting on other blogs. I’ve spent less time on Facebook (a good thing), replying to emails (not so good), and my poor family haven't seen much of me (definitely bad). I've...
The Light Between Oceans, by M L Stedman
This is M L Stedman's debut novel, released in 2012. The story is set in the 1920’s, on Janus Rock, a tiny island off the Western Australian coast. Tom and Isabel Sherbourne are the sole inhabitants of Janus, where Tom is the lighthouse-keeper. They are...
Why I Walk
Every day I walk—it's become something I have to do. It keeps me sane, as well as fit. The dog enjoys it, too. I need to exercise outdoors—I’ve never been a fan of gyms. One year, I bought a gym membership for $440 and used it eight times. At only $55 per...
Letter To My Daughter On Her Leaving Home
I sat on the plane feeling empty and bereft. It took off, up and westward, following the sun. The buildings below quickly became matchboxes, and the clouds drifted in and thickened into a matted carpet so I could no longer see the city below, the city where...
Letting Go
Our daughter is leaving home in just over a week. She’s moving interstate to go to university. There's a good uni ten minutes down the road, but she wants to experience a different city, live in a different part of Australia, and who knows where she'll go...
Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett
Wow! I can't write a review of this novel in my usual way so this is more of a 'reflection'. That's because of the emotions this story stirred. As a reader, I was completely captivated. And heartbroken. I forgot I was a writer. I only wish I could write...
‘Sea Dog Hotel’, by Marlish Glorie
Sea Dog Hotel was self-published late last year by Western Australian author Marlish Glorie. Don't let the fact it was self-published put you off -- this work has been professionally and thoroughly edited so it presents as if from a publishing house. Anyone...
Back in the Attic
Well, it was nice to get out of the attic and roam around Tassie for a while: we hauled backpacks through Cradle Mountain National Park, then visited the sights in and around Hobart. My family then left and I spent six days alone in the northeast of...