With a minimum of fuss, while we were trying to leave Australia and travel to New York, one of my orchids produced two beautiful flowers. It’s a plant that sits at the back of the pack, never complains and never demands. I always think of orchids as metaphors for late blooming children.
Tag: Helene Young
Romance is bad for your health – apparently??
I can’t resist this one. My sister sent me a link to a story in The Australian about a British relationship counsellor Susan Quillam. Here’s the link : The Australian – ‘Leading medical journal criticises romance novels for promoting an unhealthy ideal for health and relationships.’ It would have been good to read Ms Quillam’s Continue reading
That town called Alice
It seems trains travellers are split into two groups – those who sleep like babies, and those who can’t sleep at all. GW is renowned for being able to sleep anywhere, but we now know trains are the exception… Consequently I was woken at 5 am by a bleary-eyed husband who was bored with his Continue reading
Plan Z
New York, with its crowded skyline, busy streets and Broadway, is still a mystery. For three days we tried every which way to get there. We spent a day at Narita airport in Tokyo and failed to get on any of the flights we listed for. We flew back to Sydney and spent another day Continue reading
It’s all in the timing
Phew, what a week! Monday I hit ‘send’ and the latest draft of Burning Lies, book three in my Border Watch series, hurtled off through cyberspace to my agent. I’m waiting to hear her verdict, trying not to be too anxious… Tuesday I packed my bags, mowed the grass, and passed my yearly aviation medical. Continue reading
It Takes a Village
Today my guest is Sophie, the lead character in Christine Stinson’s wonderful new novel, IT TAKES A VILLAGE, released by Pan Macmillan. I read Sophie’s story on flights to and from Sydney recently and could only be grateful I had empty seats next to me both times. I cried and laughed and cheered with Sophie. Continue reading
Happy 1st Birthday Aus Lit!
A couple of weeks ago I had a fascinating chat with Steve Rossiter, the man behind The Australian Literature Review. He was in Cairns scoping out the writing scene up here. After our chat he headed south to Mackay to launch the latest Aus Lit Anthology – Basics of Life. I was surprised how young Continue reading
First Wednesday Book Club
I laughed so much last night my stomach still aches this morning. Who knew a book club meeting could be so entertaining? What a wonderful way to discuss books and writing plus anything vaguely connected to that, which means everything was fair game 🙂 The catering was wonderful, the company entertaining and I’ve come away Continue reading
Mandy Magro’s Station
My blog guest today is debut author, Mandy Magro, who’s a fellow North Queenslander. Her novel, Rosalee Station, is published by Penguin Australia who have a strong tradition of contemporary rural stories with established authors like Rachael Treasure and Fiona Palmer. Mandy brings a younger voice to that genre. Mandy, welcome to my corner of the internet Continue reading
What conflict should not do…
Last week I had a look at what conflict shouldn’t be. Today, ably assisted by Zeus, I’m contemplating what conflict should not do to your hero or heroine. Conflict shouldn’t demean them. The conflict can and should challenge them, change them, because we want our characters to grow with the story, but it shouldn’t paint Continue reading