About Me

AFTER THE WINTER SOLSTICE

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This is my favourite time of year as we enter into the dark cave, the belly of winter in Australia.

Garden Angel

 Except it’s never quite cold enough in Sydney. I’ve had a headache for two weeks now which I know is because I’m trying to juggle too many things alongside family illness.\

Smuchie outside the writing shedOur writing shed

 

 

My publishers and agent Selwa Anthony have started to discuss covers and author photos which is exciting, scary and very distracting!

I’m juggling two books and one short crime story. Yes, I’ve entered again for the annual Sisters In Crime Scarlet Stiletto Awards. This is the shortest space of time in which I’ve written a story for and I feel it probably doesn’t stand a chance as it has a very nasty bite in it. Ever hopeful, I shall submit this dark little tale because you just never know where your luck will flow.

On Saturday I spent a ridiculous amount of money to have my hair dyed to its natural state and I bought a most beautiful vintage-style dress (black with floral print) from a retro shop in King Street, which I have christened my Poets Cottage frock. 

Vivien Leigh

At night all I want to do is retire to bed early with a hot water bottle and pile of books.

More Vivien

At day, I’m often in my writing shed which you can see above. We’ve just ordered some lovely bird wallpaper for the shed. I shall post photos when it’s up. And yes, we are going to take down the Hills Hoist in front of it. I do like a Hills Hoist but I’ve yearned for a Granny line for years. 

June is coming to an end which is sad. June to me is the month of roses and love. It’s the anniversary of when I first met my writer partner, David Levell. I’m in love with everything rosy, including Jurliques Rose handcream which I’ve been slathering on my dry crocodile hands. That’s my June beauty tip.

And this morning whilst the city was waking, Daisy and I on our way to her natural therapist, Dr Peter Bablis, were peering through the windows of Channel 7’s Sunrise show to see live television at Martin Place and Daisy received a lovely smile and wave from the presenter, Mel.

What a pretty and personable person she comes across as.

J’adore winter. I wish it lasted for longer. 

images of vivien leigh source 

 

      

 

The Noisy Ghosts

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I’ve now reached 25,000 words with my Currawong Book, which is why I’ve been a bit quiet on Facebook, Twitter and in Blogland. Some writers may scoff at that output but combined with being a full-time mother it’s not too dusty for me. With every 25,000 words, I reward myself with a small treat.

 

The annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards is on again. I didn’t think I would enter this year but a story has just begun to beat a little drum in my head.

And it has rained for days non-stop in Sydney which is heaven in the writing shed. In Little Brick we keep the fairy-lights on in the hope they chase the spirits away. 

 

Fairy lights to keep the spirits at bay

 

At night the wind is so strong, I wake all the time thinking a ghost is walking down the corridor banging and shaking the walls .

Little drum stories and noisy ghosts. It’s no wonder I am always weary.

ghost image source

 

SNOWBALLS ON FIRE

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The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball — the further I am rolled the more I gain.

– Susan B. Anthony (1820 – 1906), American civil rights leader

I just love this quote from the fabulous Blog No Country for Young Women.
 
It made me think of some of the older women I think have just got better and better with age. Here’s a few of my favourites

Beatrice, Mirka, Agatha, Brigitte

 
And I couldn’t resist sneaking a Johnny Depp photo in as he’s also improved with age. 

King Snowball Johnny Depp

Who do you think is an older inspiration? 
Hats off to all smoking hot snowballs! 
beatrice wood image source 
mirka mora image source
agatha christie image source
brigitte bardot image source
johnny depp image source

I WROTE HER A LETTER

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On Sunday I retreated to the garden with a pile of weekend papers magazines (mostly featuring roses) and wrote a letter.

 

A real letter with a pretty envelope and four or five pages of news. I had owed my friend an email (we keep in pretty constant touch) but I wanted to surprise her with something more special than an email. I was inspired by the movie Emma. I saw it on the weekend and it made me long for a more mannerly and leisurely time when appointments were by card rather than iPhone.

It was so pleasant to sit in the winter sunshine and feel the pen on paper and misspell words as I had forgotten the dictionary (no spell-check). My brain seemed to click into a different place as I wrote to her. I used to write all my books in longhand first and I’m tempted to return to that.

The Currawong book is progressing well although it’s still early days. Will this one work? Will the story be spun in time for deadline? I’m now writing in my writing shed which is a divine place to be and which we’re currently trying to make as beautiful as we can.

 I want to prune my over-grown roses and order more from the new Treloar catalogue which I love browsing through. And I want to write more letters from my garden and send less emails.

Cloudstreet

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I must be one of the few people in Australia that haven’t read Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet but I have it on my list to do so. But I’ve been loving the Foxtel series which is airing at the moment.

I originally watched it for Essie Davis because I was at Matriculation College in Hobart with her.

Essie Davis

 Essie was always super-talented and in the cool crowd. I was not ever part of the cool crowd and I’ve loved following her career for years. I must do a blog post on her one day as I think she’s stunning and wonderful and I love seeing Tasmanian girls make it world-wide.

Essie at Cloudstreet launch party with cast members

Even though Cloudstreet is filled with the sort of quirky characters I HATE in Australian shows (I have no idea of why Australians on screen have to be so quirky. Even if I have been described as quirky a few times I have nothing on Australian characters).

Quirkiness aside, there’s still so much of the characters that I can relate to or see in my grandparents or my parents. And the magical touches like the talking pig and the bird that excretes shillings are so lovely. But it’s the HOUSE I have fallen totally in love with and I know I’m not alone here.

This magnificent weatherboard dwelling is enough to convince even the most passionate of brick-lovers like myself that weatherboard is elegant and timeless. This ghostly house that whispers terrible secrets and harbours two families, the Pickles and the Lambs, is hauntingly beautiful in a shabby stunning way.

It’s truly fabulous Australian viewing – here’s a link to the main site if you would like more information. Now I shall finally have to read the book.

images source here