A long time to heal

Long after a cyclone or a natural disaster the devastation still remains. Yasi’s destruction has been all but forgotten except by those who are still rebuilding their lives. The rest of us move on. I spoke to a woman recently who said she lived at Mission Beach. ‘How are you doing?’ I asked, thinking she’d Continue reading


What Qantas did for Australia

It’s a funny old world. A week ago the average Australian probably didn’t even know what Fair Work Australia was, let alone how it impacted on them. Since Alan Joyce staged his company ‘stop work meeting’, most Australians are now experts on our Industrial Relations laws. Over the last three days I’ve had animated (and Continue reading


A spammer’s life…

Briefly (and embarrassingly) yesterday I joined the ranks of spammers. When I woke up in the morning it wasn’t on my To Do List. In fact it’s never been on a TD list and hopefully won’t be again. There were important things on my list – mow the grass, do my aircraft manual amendments, pay Continue reading


Dave Delaney – Aussie Bush Poet

For me Bush Poetry is an integral part of the Australian landscape. It’s as important as the Simpson Desert or the Great Barrier Reef, as Aussie as a game of Two-Up on Anzac Day, and as colloquial as ‘g’day’ or ‘she’ll be right’. I’ve never been brave enough to write a bush poem, but I Continue reading


Perception is king…

I’ve been immersed in editing Burning Lies for the last two weeks which means skipping the blogsphere to a large extent. I’m surfacing today because of a story my sister sent me. (She’s in France and knows more about what’s going on in Australian newspapers than I do…) The article is in the Sydney Morning Continue reading


Writing Races?

They say writers need to exercise their writing muscles to keep them strong, so what better way than to sprint for an hour or two! Queensland Writers Centre has an online department called Australian Writer’s Marketplace Online – AWM Online. It’s a wonderful resource for writers covering everything from advice to on-line courses, to forums. Continue reading


Authors Compare

It was remiss of me not to post a link earlier…  Steve from The Australian Literature Review has created a new site called Authors Compare. Ever wondered how other writers see their characters? Do they have favourites? Just how do they balance narrative and dialogue? Is setting allowed to take on a life of its Continue reading