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...
Anne Buist: Now Breathe and Push
At first glance, you wouldn't think books and babies had much in common, but, believe me, they do, as anyone who's ever done both will attest. Anne Buist is a psychiatrist and the Chair of Women’s Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. She has thirty...
Lauren Chater: Mother Midnight – In Praise of the Midwife
I spent last week at 'virtual' Varuna on a writers' residency that didn't require leaving home or breaching isolation restrictions, but meant I could mix with other writers, share and discuss writing, and basically feel normal again. It was perfectly timed...
Natasha Lester: These Are the Times for Stories
This week's guest in the attic is my very good friend, Natasha Lester. Ten years ago when I started writing, Natasha was one of the first authors to offer me a helping hand, an encouraging word or an answer to a question. Over the years, we've become...
Suzanne Moore: Writing Mothers – Living in The Place Between
Writers in the Attic is back for 2020! I was actually planning on taking a break while I finished my second novel, but Covid's thrown all our 2020 plans into disarray! Authors rely on book tours, writers' festivals, library talks, workshops and book clubs to...
Goodbye to a Decade
I originally shared this post on Facebook, but I think it's worth sharing here on my blog, too. ~ It’s a new year and a new decade. (I won’t be a purist and mention that decades start at 1 and end at 10, because I accept we’re about to enter the 2020’s.) ...
Joanna Nell: Confessions of an Introvert Writer—How I found my Quiet Tribe
This is my last Writers in the Attic for 2019 and I'm delighted to end the year with this beautiful and insightful post from Joanna Nell. Everything Jo mentions in this piece, every single detail, resonates with me, as I'm sure it will with every other...
Favel Parrett: When Fiction Becomes Truth
We're into the final month of 2019, and I have two more guests in the attic to come before I take a break for summer. I feel incredibly lucky that so many wonderful writers have agreed to write for the attic this year and I hope you've enjoyed reading their...
Yvette Walker: Pick a card, any card
Anyone who's followed me for a while, knows that I rely on a mix of old and new technology when writing. I love the software programme, Scrivener, and the way it allows me to shuffle my chapters around and edit easily. I'm also a fan of the old-fashioned...
Heather Rose: A Few Thoughts About Writing
Today's guest in the attic requires no introduction—she's one of Australia's best writers, as well as one of the kindest, most down-to-earth people you could ever meet. (That's how they breed them in Tasmania. 😉 ) I'm thrilled and honoured that Heather...
Guest Post: Re-Discovering the Joy of Writing
This week I popped over to Lee Kofman's wonderful blog and wrote a guest post. It only took me five drafts before I was able to articulate what I really wanted to say about the struggles of writing a second book compared to the joy of writing a first, and...