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...
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...
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...
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...
Alison Booth: A Tale of Two Very Different Sisters
Readers and writers of historical fiction will enjoy today's post by Canberra-based writer and ANU academic, Alison Booth. Alison talks about the evolution of her novel, The Philosopher's Daughters, about why she chose to tell it from dual viewpoints and why...
Maya Linnell: Write What You Know
A huge welcome to my guest in the attic this week, Maya Linnell. Maya begins her post by saying, 'Writing advice comes in all shapes and sizes'. What an understatement! And it can be so contradictory: write for yourself but keep your audience in mind; write...
Kerri Turner: Getting Physical With Your Book
I think two of the biggest struggles for every writer are finding (a) their writing style and (b) their writing process. It involves a lot of trial and error, writing hundreds of thousands of words, and studying writers we admire. Kerri Turner joins me in...
Imbi Neeme: In Conversation With Herself
Today I welcome Imbi Neeme as my guest, with an attic first—an in-conversation with herself! I've never met Imbi but if this quirky post is anything to go by, I'm looking forward to the pleasure one day. Please read on, as Imbi tells Imbi about how it feels...
Katherine Johnson: Plotting Your Own Path
I have another author in the attic this week: my friend, Katherine Johnson. Katherine and I first met at the Tasmanian Writers Festival in 2018, where we were fellow panellists, and we've stayed in contact since. Katherine's post is about how fiction enables...
Donna Mazza: A Desk of One’s Own
I'm thrilled to have Donna Mazza as my guest in the attic this week. I'm sure all writers will relate to her post about writing desks and rooms, as we all yearn for a place to write that's beautiful and tranquil. But this story is also about improvisation,...
Thuy On: Documenting Life In Poetry
Most of the writers who visit the attic are novelists, so I'm very happy to welcome a poet as my guest this week: Thuy On. Today, Thuy writes about changing course from critic to poet, and how documenting a particularly turbulent period of her life became a...
We’re Not Out of the Woods Yet
I first published this post on Facebook, where it was shared over 100 times, so I thought I'd re-jig it and share it here, too. ~ My husband is Head of Respiratory Medicine at Joondalup Health Campus. In March, Joondalup hospital (along with every other...
Vikki Holstein: Including Trauma in Storytelling
This week's guest is a repeat offender in the attic. Her first post, in 2017, was about her struggles to get published, so I'm thrilled to welcome Vikki back today and share the good news that her first novel, Breaking Storm, has been published. Breaking...
Amanda Niehaus: A Change of Plan
All art is autobiography, so they say, and I know this to be true. Every story says something about the writer, regardless of their intention or, indeed, consent. Many writers draw from their lives for their fiction, and often return to the same themes in...
Clare Griffin: Women of the Skies
Easter Promises, a fabulous new historical fiction anthology, was published just before Easter (as the title suggests!), and this week's guest writer in the attic is one of the authors in that anthology: Clare Griffin. In her piece today, Clare discusses her...