It's eight thirty on Christmas evening here in New South Wales. Yesterday we spent the afternoon experiencing torrential rain, thunder, lightning and in some areas of our rural town, flash flooding. This morning at church, we sang carols, and then listened to a timely reminder of a sermon. I'm now sitting typing, listening to an … Continue reading Merry Christmas
Year: 2016
Rogue One
I went and saw Rogue One last night with my husband. It's always a bit interesting when you go and see a new Star Wars movie. I was 11 when I saw A New Hope. I can still remember sitting astounded as the Imperial Star Destroyer seemed to fly directly over my head. It was … Continue reading Rogue One
Granny Undies…
Yesterday, one of the most ridiculous stories I've ever seen was published on the Daily Mail. The title was "Sunrise host Sam Armytage dares to bare with granny panties showing a visible line as she steps out in Sydney... after slamming rumours she's dating Channel Seven colleagues." I'm not going to link to the article … Continue reading Granny Undies…
Who Really Has the Best Steak?
I'm in Townsville. I drove up with our daughter, who is now living here. It took two and a half days to drive from where we live in NSW. I have to say that Townsville is lovely. It is hot, and rather humid, and all the residents are desperate for rain, which reminds me very … Continue reading Who Really Has the Best Steak?
Finding the Time to Write (or how I didn’t manage to do NaNoWriMo this year)
This year has been ridiculous. By ridiculous I mean that it's been so jam packed with stuff that it's almost been overwhelming. Frontier Defiant, Book 3 in my Frontier Trilogy (Hague Publishing) was published on August 26th. That meant that during most of the year prior to that, I was editing, polishing, and proofreading it … Continue reading Finding the Time to Write (or how I didn’t manage to do NaNoWriMo this year)
Singing Her Home
It's been a while since I posted. For two weeks my husband and I travelled around Tasmania, and then, when we returned home, a good friend of ours passed away unexpectedly. What is it about music that strikes so deeply into our souls? Our friend was a musician, who taught and nurtured piano players. … Continue reading Singing Her Home
Elections and Other Stuff
Here in Australia, 2016 saw the longest election campaign in history except for one. In 1954, Robert Menzies had a campaign that lasted ninety four days between calling the election and the actual election. Our elections are governed by some rather complex arrangements, but generally, an election occurs each three to four years into the … Continue reading Elections and Other Stuff
Learning to Think Through Health Claims
A friend posted this link on Facebook recently. It's entitled 'Our world is awash in bullshit (sorry about the language) health claims. These scientists want to train kids to spot them.' As someone who works part time in health, and has done for thirty years (doesn't that sound a dreadfully long time!) now, it's something I'm … Continue reading Learning to Think Through Health Claims
Catching Up on Reading and Other Stuff
Now that Frontier Defiant is finally launched and winging its way through the world, I've taken the opportunity to do a little more reading. Often when I'm editing or writing furiously, I read stuff that's familiar - old favourites, like Terry Pratchett, Anne McCaffrey, or Brandon Sanderson. I like a good comfort read, rediscovering old … Continue reading Catching Up on Reading and Other Stuff
Writing New Things
For some years, I've been writing the Frontier Trilogy. By writing, I mean first, second, third draft, submission, acceptance, editing, editing, editing (I could keep typing that one), and then proofreading it. Now that the series is complete and has been released, it all feels a bit weird. It's not like I haven't been writing … Continue reading Writing New Things