April has been a month of highs for me. Some months go by with little to no news – just words on the page. Which is heaven, of course. The gentle tap, tap, tapping on my keyboard. The act of imagining and creating something meaningful or resonant. The polishing of…
It can be difficult to take time off when you work for yourself. As an author, editor and writing mentor who works from home, the computer is always there, along with all the words and stories yet to be written. So I do sometimes struggle to down tools and disconnect…
In Australia, bushwalking can often resemble storytelling, so much so I recently made a short video about it, which has gone viral! Only kidding, it’s merely been well-received enough across all my social media platforms that I thought I’d share it with you here! You see, as I say in…
Over dinner last Saturday night, I was talking with a friend about the creative life. Although we’ve known each other for fifteen years, she hasn’t been particularly interested in the topic until now, given she works in government and her husband’s an engineer – they just don’t walk in those…
Did you know that each of my novels come with free reading notes – Book Club Notes and/or Teachers’ Notes – which you can download right now? They include all kinds of valuable insights into characters, settings, authorial purpose, key themes, social issues, beliefs and cultural explorations, relationship & family…
How lucky am I? Last weekend, my wonderful hubbie drove the four hours from Sydney to Canberra to take me to a writing convention! It’s been years since I’ve been able to get down to Conflux, the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild’s annual writing convention of literary greatness, what with the…
For the past ten years, I’ve not only judged the Mosman Youth Awards in Literature, but I’ve written a judge’s report to advise emerging writers how they can improve their writing for next time. I’ve then published that advice on my blog each year (apart from the first year): Character…
