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On Ted Kooser, Journaling and Playing With Poetry

On Ted Kooser, Journaling and Playing With Poetry

by Louise Allan | Jun 27, 2022 | ON WRITING, WRITING

It doesn’t happen very often, but every now and then I read or hear about something and it strikes me immediately as something I must do. This happened to me in October 2020 – I was driving home, watching the road, probably thinking about the next thing I had to...
The Story Behind the Story: My Great-Grandmother

The Story Behind the Story: My Great-Grandmother

by Louise Allan | Mar 30, 2017 | CHILDHOOD ABUSE & TRAUMA, FAVOURITE, MEMOIR, THE SISTERS' SONG, WRITING

In the lead-up to publication of my novel, I want to write a few posts about the inspiration for my story. Last year, I wrote about my grandfather in ‘The Story Behind the Story’. In that post, I talked about how as soon I started writing my novel, my...
The Story Behind My Story: My Grandfather

The Story Behind My Story: My Grandfather

by Louise Allan | Nov 15, 2016 | FAVOURITE, MEMOIR, THE SISTERS' SONG, WRITING

In the lead up to publication of my novel, I’d like to write more about the ‘The Story Behind the Story’: the genesis of my novel, and the people and places that inspired it. My Grandfather My paternal grandfather was...
What I Want to Write About …

What I Want to Write About …

by Louise Allan | Aug 13, 2016 | CHILDHOOD ABUSE & TRAUMA, FAVOURITE, MEMOIR, WRITING

Lately, each time I’ve sat at my computer the words haven’t come and I’ve ended up faffing. Yet my mind is overflowing with ideas and things I want to write about. So, in the end, I pulled out my notebook and pen and...
On Not Giving Up

On Not Giving Up

by Louise Allan | Jul 10, 2016 | CHILDHOOD ABUSE & TRAUMA, FAVOURITE, MEDICINE, MEMOIR, WRITING

This post could also be called On Failure, or On Working Hard, or On Learning Life’s Lessons the Hard Way. When I was young, I spent most of each summer in our above-ground pool, swimming and jumping and tumbling and doing laps of its 20-foot length. I...
Talking to Teenagers: How I Turned My Relationship With My Daughter Around: Parenting Reflection #2

Talking to Teenagers: How I Turned My Relationship With My Daughter Around: Parenting Reflection #2

by Louise Allan | Jan 26, 2016 | CHILDHOOD ABUSE & TRAUMA, FAMILY AND PARENTING, FAVOURITE, MEMOIR, WRITING

In a blog post last year, I said I’d write a post about my second daughter and how, through her, I learnt to be a better mother. That was easier said than done, believe me. Once kids reach a certain age, it’s difficult to write about them...
The Story Behind the Story

The Story Behind the Story

by Louise Allan | Jan 7, 2016 | CHILDHOOD ABUSE & TRAUMA, FAVOURITE, MEMOIR, THE SISTERS' SONG, WRITING

ON WRITING ‘THE SISTERS’ SONG’   My novel, ‘The Sisters’ Song’, has evolved and that’s the only way to describe how it came into being. It’s nothing at all like what I set out to write, and this draft, Final Draft 3.0, is very different to...
What Not to Say to Young Women

What Not to Say to Young Women

by Louise Allan | Sep 23, 2015 | FAMILY AND PARENTING, FAVOURITE, WRITING

Last week, our seventeen-year-old daughter sang at an Eisteddfod. She’s in Year Twelve and hopes to pursue classical singing after school. She always takes care with how she presents herself for a performance, and for this item,...
For Fathers’ Day

For Fathers’ Day

by Louise Allan | Sep 6, 2015 | CHILDHOOD ABUSE & TRAUMA, MEMOIR, WRITING

I wrote this piece a couple of years’ ago. It’s some of my early writing so please forgive the errors and simplicity! It was one of the first pieces I wrote in my own ‘voice’ and was published in the OOTA anthology, ‘Jukebox’,...
(Un)Happy Mothers’ Day

(Un)Happy Mothers’ Day

by Louise Allan | May 11, 2015 | CHILDHOOD ABUSE & TRAUMA, FAMILY AND PARENTING, MEMOIR, WRITING

What do you do when you dread ‘Mothers’ Day’ coming around each year? When those words cause your insides to shrivel because all they do is remind you of the Mothers’ Days of your childhood, when you hid in your bedroom, while your mother stood...
Making Medical Mistakes — a Letter to My Daughter

Making Medical Mistakes — a Letter to My Daughter

by Louise Allan | Apr 2, 2015 | FAMILY AND PARENTING, MEDICINE, WRITING

This ‘Letter to My Daughter’ first appeared in a recent issue of a medical journal. My daughter had just finished first year Medicine, so I wrote to her telling her about one of the pitfalls of being a doctor—making mistakes....
Camping at Lucky Bay, WA

Camping at Lucky Bay, WA

by Louise Allan | Jan 21, 2015 | FAMILY AND PARENTING, MEMOIR, PHOTOGRAPHY, WRITING

We’ve just returned from our family holiday. This year, we camped at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park, about 800 km southeast of Perth. We’re experienced campers now, and I’ve come home recharged and refreshed. There’s also a few more...
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