Writers – Tale Peddler - Josephine Pennicott

Autumn

josephinetalepeddlerMay 10, 2013 4 Comments

The Autumn sunshine in Sydney has been glorious but I was in the writing shed watching the dappled mellow light in my backyard. I’m happy to say Currawong Manor has now been cut from a massive 170 000 to a much trimmer word length. The process wasn’t as horrendous as I had feared; I could feel sparks begin to fly in the manuscript as I worked. I lost several characters but I already know they will re-appear in later books. Two of them were most insistent they had to go together, which was creepy because of who those characters are – but I can’t say too much about them without creating spoilers.

The hardest part was only having a month for the edit with my daughter home on school holidays for half that time. Thankfully, I had wonderful friends who took my daughter to the cinema, on excursions, and – being a Unique Enfant (only child) – she enjoys holiday care at her school.

Somehow it all came together and I’m very happy with the end result. Fingers crossed my agent and publishers will be too.

On completion I felt as if a brass band should be playing and an auditorium of people screaming their praises to a soundtrack of Gladiator. In reality I had the school-run, lunches and everyday life to contend with. I did steal one precious day from the edit to take Daisy to the mountains so we could enjoy the Autumn light together.

I’ve been reading some fab books lately. Katherine Howell’s Silent Fear, Kate Forsyth’s Bitter Greens, Thea Astley’s An Item on the Late News, Jo Wood’s autobiography of her life with the Rolling Stones and the terrifying Poppet by Mo Hayder. When I get a chance, I shall write some reviews for them and post here. I am longing to read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and UK’s Louise Millar’s psychological suspense books. I’ve also just started Secrets of the Tides by Hannah Richell which I’m loving. A great read for cosy Autumn afternoons.

My book club, The Magic Hat read Thea Astley’s An Item from the Late News in our last meeting. I have to admit I had never read any of Thea Astley’s books before and I was surprised by what a page-turner and how darkly powerful this literary novel is. My full review is on Good Reads if you are a member.

This is a photo from my friend Mary’s wonderful Facebook page, My Love Affair With Newtown. It’s a new coffee shop opening down the south end of King Street near the Union Hotel. It looks like a little dolls’ house and with the small space, chandelier and books, it reminds me of my own lounge-room in Little Brick. I feel tempted to paint my lounge hot pink. I think that’s going to be my winter project. Our lounge room is very small like this, crammed with books and a chandelier. Hot pink might make it more cosy than the Antique White it is now.

We were fortunate to see John Bell’s wonderful Henry 4 at the Opera House recently. I just loved it as the words are brought to beautifully to life by the excellent actors. It was such a fab interpretation with more hip to it than a boxed set of Mad Men. From the moment it began with electric guitars being thrashed as the stage set was trashed, it was a wild, eloquent ride though age-old issues regarding power, self-responsibility and family. Issues as relevant today as when Shakespeare wrote it. Here’s a brief promo clip from YouTube where you can get a sense of the majestic power of the words. A most inspiring night of theatre. If you feel blocked with your writing; this two-minute clip will help you get your groove back.

If you are on my Facebook you will have seen I was deeply saddened by the news story that broke in Sydney this week when Madeleine Milne, a 13-year-old schoolgirl who loved drawing dragons, being creative and helping others became the youngest ever recorded suicide in NSW due to a bullying incident at her school. Her grieving father went public with the story in an appeal to everyone – parents and schools – to communicate more and take the time to listen to your children. The pressures on our young people are enormous these days. When I was growing up there was always bullying but somehow we had the resilience to endure it. This was however before the media began to promote the mean-girl attitudes that are so prominent today. We live in a society that cushions children so much from all hardships (and even not-so-hardships – I was shocked to discover everyone now gets a prize in pass-the-parcel!) We leave young children on technology that contains messages and images their undeveloped brains may not be able to compute. I don’t have any answers as I’m only on my L-plates with parenting, but I feel we are letting our young people down terribly when children this young are taking their own lives unable to see any light in winter’s dark embrace. And Madeleine is far from the only child who has suicided over bullying. A quick Google search will show you other horror stories.

If you do have children – please take on board this plea from Madeleine’s father:

“We all let our busy lives get in the way. The school was busy and didn’t get back to us, we were busy. I’d just say make the time.”

Fight back against the sexualisation of children and the mean culture in the media. Ensure your school has a zero tolerance to bullying and cliques. Help your child develop resilience rather than cushioning them against the inevitable crap and hard times of life. This little girl’s story touched so many people as it could have been any one of us with children. As one of my Facebook friends, Dianne eloquently said:

‘13 is such a violable age. They are full of promise and act tough, but they are fragile like a butterfly emerging from the cocoon. Handle them with care.’

Enjoy your week. As I wait for the next stage of the edit to return, I’m planning and researching my next book and also writing my Young Adult book that I’ve been having fun with for years in-between my bigger books.

And a gentle reminder that I shall be appearing in Melbourne in June 14 along with Livia Day and Poppy Gee for Sisters in Crime on a panel called Something Rotten in the Apple Isle. You can find more details of the event HERE.

And a lovely photo of Johnny to end with. This one is via the Johnny C. Depp Facebook page

Thank you for visiting me.

Love Josephine xx

Stopping Time

josephinetalepeddlerMarch 28, 2013 5 Comments

This is a review for The Australian Women Writers Challenge which you can read more about HERE. In the coming year I plan to review a host of female Australian writers, so watch this space. I always buy books from Australian writers in the popular fiction genre and they tend to form a tower in my room. It’s difficult to find time to read them with all the research reading required for my own books, not to mention my Magic Hat Bookclub, so The Australian Women Writers Challenge is an opportunity for me to lessen that tower of books.

For my first review I went with Kate Morton’s The Secret Keeper.
First a disclaimer:
I’ve known Kate Morton as a writing colleague for years and we share the same agent. Along with many other writers and readers we also share a love of parallel timeline stories, mysteries, Enid Blyton, Barbara Vine and Daphne du Maurier. And so virtually any story Kate creates is going to be my cup of tea.

I love the cover design. It’s a gorgeous image and I had to look twice to check it wasn’t Kate herself.

The production team did a spectacular job with the end papers, which are reminiscent of a Persephone book (another thing I share with Kate is a love of Persephone books). And The Secret Keeper even had a brief Peter Pan mention.

I also love the title which lets you know exactly what this book is about. It also fits in nicely with Kate’s previous titles in its rhythm.
This is a big book. I had to cull several books to fit it on my shelf but I was prepared to do so because the cover design is so lovely.
I finished reading this book on a rainy Sunday night which of course is the perfect weather for a story such as this.
It’s always strange to read an author you know as you have to left go of your relationship to slip into the story, but as usual Kate lured me swiftly in to her web of parallel worlds of 1940s Blitz London, the smaller Australian thread in Tambourine Mountain and the present day/1960s and 2011 strands.
The book opens with a cracking scene as sixteen-year-old Laurel attempts to uncover the mystery behind why her mother stabbed a stranger to death as she looked on from her tree house. You always get a very strong visual sense when reading Kate’s books, which no doubt her drama training helped her develop.
I did spot the twist very early on, which is not Kate’s fault. It was more to do with so many people revealing online there was a twist and so I was on the hunt for it. If I’m going to be picky (and scratching hard for something here), the siblings never felt as developed as the leading characters. I kept getting confused with the siblings who weren’t in it a lot. And the characters seemed a bit too Downton Abbey ‘nice’, but that is also the broad appeal of Kate’s work as well.
In this book Kate seems to be having fun with us. The words play games and bounce along at times.
Kate’s skill is bringing history to life in a ‘can’t put the book down’ way. You catch glimpses of what it was like to live through 1940s Blitz London. I have been reading These Wonderful Rumours! A Young Schoolteacher’s Wartime Diaries 1939-1945 by May Smith.

This also gives you an insight into exactly what it was like for people living when normal life was ‘sort of as usual’ except bombs were going off down the road. One thing I really got from These Wonderful Rumours! was the effects of disrupted sleep from being summoned to air raid shelters in the middle of the night. And do you go coat shopping or to the cinema if they are sounding the raids? I can’t imagine living under the stress of this for years. I would highly recommend his book for the chirpy school teacher’s diaries of her war years.

Chirpy May Smith

But back to Kate and The Secret Keeper. I admire Kate’s elegant use of words and phrases which create such evocative pictures in your mind, such as on page 185 when the very-likeable Jimmy tries on his father’s suit. He reflects that his father ‘had always seemed such a giant but now it was possible he had merely been a man.’ Such a poignant world revealed in such few words.
And the vivid description on page 188 where Jimmy’s photographs reveal world of ‘private places suddenly made public’ of people’s homes who have been bombed.
The team leader, Mrs Waddingham, is described in Chapter 14 as having lips as tight as a ‘dachshund’s arse’. A glorious image which made me laugh out loud.
And so I finished the Secret Keeper as the rain pelted down outside with a satisfied sigh. I stroked that lovely book cover tenderly and slowly adjusted myself back to my ‘real world’ of Sydney 2013, realising I had to get ready for the school run but reluctant to bid farewell to her characters just yet.
And that is exactly how a great book and story should make you feel. Like many people around the world I am eagerly anticipating Kate’s next book.
On page 246, one of Jimmy’s photographs is of a little girl of 3 or 4 wearing an enormous pair of borrowed bloomers, an adult cardigan and tap shoes. She taps a little dance as she waits for the family who were never going to arrive to take her home. Jimmy’s images are said ‘to record individual tragedies such as a little girl losing her entire family which would otherwise be swept as easily as dust beneath history’s carpet.’
Kate’s The Secret Keeper also reminds us through a ‘can’t put it down’ good story of the human side of the Blitz. I was reminded of The Secret Keeper when I saw this recent quote on Good Reads.
Books have a unique way of stopping time in a particular moment and saying: Let’s not forget this. Dave Eggers
I gave The Secret Keeper four stars out of 5.

Inside Carla Coulson’s Magic Camera

josephinetalepeddlerFebruary 19, 2013 8 Comments

Hello,

Exciting news today that Poet’s Cottage continues its European tour with the rights being sold to Spain. So happy to know my Tasmanian mystery will now be available to Spanish readers.

Josephine Pennicott by Carla Coulson

And for regular readers, you may recall that I had a photo shoot last year with the very talented Carla Coulson, of which I posted about HERE in the post Life’s so Light.

Carla has released some of the images from that shoot on her beautiful blog which I’ve followed for years CARLA LOVES PHOTOGRAPHY

Josephine Pennicott and Daisy image by Carla Coulson

I am still pinching myself that not only did I get to meet Carla but I also had the honour of being photographed by her. We worked with a vision/mood board that must have raised Carla’s eyebrow when she first saw it. It included Agatha Christie/the Rolling Stones and a few other slightly different inspirations. Carla, bless her, had an image of Kate Moss with her daughter that she wanted to reproduce the look of.

Josephine Pennicott and David Levell image by Carla Coulson

I am delighted with how she represented our family as I wanted to show our creative and laid-back style. If you enjoy the photos please leave feedback for Carla. And Carla does do workshops and shoots in Sydney if you are interested. All the details can be found on her website.

One of my inspiration images for the shoot

Josephine Pennicott by Carla Coulson

Finally some advance notice that I will be appearing in the following talk, Something Rotten in the Apple Isle in Melbourne in June for Sisters in Crime. It should be enormous fun and I’m thrilled it has a Tasmanian theme. You can read all about it on this link HERE. I know I have the fab Carmel Shute to thank for that title. Would love to see you there if you can make it. I am sure it will be a hoot.

I am planning and dreaming new books into existence this week. I have loads of ideas. I’m never short of a great idea it’s just making time to write them all out. And this year I have joined the Australian Women Writers Challenge HERE which I think is a great idea. I did join it in 2012 but was flat out with research reading. However I do think it’s a worthy cause and a wonderful idea to support other Australian Women writers across genres. I have committed myself to the Miles level and so no excuses for not tackling the tower of books in my bedroom now!

David and I in Irish Echo

David and I made the Irish Echo last week to see Mike Scott and the Waterboys, one of our rare nights out. I’ve loved the Waterboys forever and so thrilled to have the moment immortalised.

Thanks for visiting me. Keep Creative and Inspired. xx

Saying Goodbye

josephinetalepeddlerJanuary 15, 2013 18 Comments

David shot this candid on his way to bed last night. I was sitting at this table until 3am finishing Currawong Manor in time for its deadline today.

It’s the shortest space of time I’ve ever written a book, it took on its own life and is double the size of Poet’s Cottage. Some days I can make myself write to a word count. If I know I have a 5000 word limit I put that figure in my head, I seem to naturally break just before I hit it. Currawong Manor however, lured me along its strange, twisty and winding corridors to a far bigger book than I had envisaged when I began.

David who has read, made corrections and suggestions for me says its the best book I’ve ever written (If he had said anything else I wouldn’t record it here of course).

I do like this photograph as to me it reveals the reality of the everyday life of a writer. The screen’s illumination, the characters, the isolation when creating (apart from a friendly cat friend who is willing to purr away the long hours by your side). It’s not glamorous but it’s intense, challenging, deflating and amazing all at once.

And so the story is told. The characters have blessed me with their insights, their deceptions, their dreams and their stories yet again. Now the book goes to Selwa Anthony, my agent and then onto the publishers. Eventually it will make its way to the public.

But for this moment in the early quiet hours of my small home, it’s just the story, the cat and me. I do find it hard to say goodbye to the characters at times.

I am flying to Tasmania to spend a few days with my family in yet another Tasmanian sea-fishing village. I will be seeing Neil Gaiman talk down there which I’m looking forward to. We will have a bottle of champagne by the Tasmanian sea to celebrate the book’s conclusion on this stage of its creation.

I have my notebook packed as already the next book (which has been waiting patiently its turn for years) is eager to come through. I’m really looking forward to this one.

Thanks for visiting me and keep creative. xx

1am in Melbourne

josephinetalepeddlerNovember 25, 2012 15 Comments

Kerry Greenwood, Josephine Pennicott and Marion Boyce

When I stop flying in the sky I shall write a proper report on the night it’s been thirteen years of me entering the Scarlet Stiletto. Now that I’ve won the two shoes I am no longer eligible. It’s an end of an era for Tale Peddler. But I am incredibly honoured to be one of the five women in Australia who have won two shoes. In 2001 I won for Birthing The Demons and on Friday night I won for Shadows, a short story inspired when my daughter ran off from a park and decided to walk home by herself.
Thank you for visiting me. There’s a lot I’d love to blog about – so much to share – but I’m right into the world of Currawong Manor at the moment. This book is intense to say the least. I don’t want to lose the beat and heart of it too much by spending time away from it.

Sisters in Crime – Melanie Myers, Josephine Pennicott, Liz Filleul and Mandy Wrangles

Deadline is now the end of December. I have my characters and my crumbling world of Currawong Manor for a short time yet.

Colour mood board for Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

I love this book so much that it hurts. I am happy to report my husband also loves it and hopefully other readers will as well. It’s been the hardest book I’ve ever written but it’s bones have emerged in exactly the way I always envisaged it.

With Carmel Shute fellow Sister in Crime

Thanks again to all the Sisters in Crime and to Kerry Greenwood for her kind words to me. I really needed to hear what she had to say to me. I love Kerry and she’s been such a big inspiration to me over the years for her wonderful books set in Australia and for her style. In my opinion, she’s got even more style than her sassy creation, Phryne Fisher.

The always fab Kerry Greenwood

She is a survivor and it’s writers like Kerry who keep me going. The talk and powerpoint presentation by Kerry and costume designer Marion Boyce was fascinating and the outfits drew many gasps from the audience. I could have listened to them both all night.

Mandy Wrangles, Josephne Pennicott and Lindy Cameron.

Well-frocked guests. I had delightful dinner companions.

A Killer Wine

Marion’s research sheets for Phryne Fisher

Phyllis, Mandy, Lindy, Carmel, Liz and all the other Sisters of Crime, I love you all.

You can read the official press release HERE from Sisters in Crime and see the full list of winners. Congratulations again to all fellow Sisters in Crime who picked up awards this year. If you didn’t make the short list then submit next year!

Thanks to HARPERCOLLINS for their continued support of this award.

A SWAN FLIES

josephinetalepeddlerNovember 20, 2012 6 Comments

A very busy time.

image by Carla Coulson

My deadline for Currawong Manor has been extended until the end of December which is wonderful as it gives me more time to spend a last month with my characters before they leave the writing shed.

Carla Coulson

I was very excited to speak to Carla Coulson on Friday night in Paris, whose photography/books and blog I’ve long been a fan of. In a couple of weeks she will be taking some photographs of yours truly in the most AMAZING Sydney location. I’ll be fascinated to see how she works for research purposes for Currawong Manor. Hopefully in the midst of editing, I shall be able to organise something to wear.

image by Carla Coulson

David leaves tomorrow to spend a night in a koala hospital for work.

And on Friday I’m flying to Melbourne as I have shortlisted for the annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards with Sisters in Crime for their crime short-story competition. Wish me good fortune, and best wishes to all the other nominated writers. It is an honour to have made the short-list again.

Kerry Greenwood (by Harjono Djoyobisono

Kerry Greenwood is presenting the awards along with Marion Boyce, from Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries who is responsible for the totally stunning outfits Essie Davis wore in the ABC series. Marion has an impressive body of work including Salem’s Lot and so I’m really looking forward to her talk on Friday night.

Speaking of sassy authors – how fab to see fellow Selwa Anthony author, lovely Kate Morton achieve such incredible heights with her latest book The Secret Keeper.

Kate photo by Brigit Solhoug

We are all thrilled for her in Little Brick as we’ve watched Kate navigate her writing career way back when she was first submitting her early work. And it proves that there are readers out there who still love a well-told story presented in a beautiful book. I bought The Secret Keeper the other day and had to cull seven paperback books to fit it on my shelves, but it is a glorious presentation. And I’m very excited that Clint Eastwood has bought the film rights to her second book, The Forgotten Garden.

Sandra’s Birdie and Pearl

I may not have Clint Eastwood but the beautiful chickens above belong to lovely Sandra who hosted a book club meeting for Poet’s Cottage. Her chickens are named after my characters Birdie and Pearl. Such an honour to have not only a television commercial and bag made for my Tasmanian mystery but to have chickens named after your characters fills me with joy. I would love to have some chickens!

The weekend was a blur of editing and fact checking. A highlight was the smell of freshly cut grass in my park on a twilight run whilst an enormous black swan launched himself into flight in front of me.

Cockles and Mussels and Selwa Anthony

josephinetalepeddlerNovember 7, 2012 4 Comments

I found this coverage on my agent, Selwa Anthony that was in last Saturday’s paper by Tim Elliott most interesting My Poet’s Cottage published in Australia by Pan Macmillan was one of the three large deals mentioned the agency having in the last 18 months, selling in Germany after a bidding war.You can read the Selwa article HERE

I’ve been to many Sassy events over the years and I have no idea of why Mr Elliott felt he needed to grow ovaries or has ovary envy – as there’s always a good balance of males and females at both the day and night events.

The agency has a very diverse range of authors, from true crime to romance, historical, celebrity memoirs to biographies. David Levell, my husband spent seven years writing his non-fiction book, Tour to Hell which is published by Queensland University Press, contains original information on early convict history and was short-listed for the prestigious NIB award. Selwa believed in, and represented that book.

I’m proud to be a part of her agency, surrounded by some of the biggest names in the business like Kate Morton, Katherine Howell, Belinda Alexandra and a powerful cast of others. I learn so much from these writers both as people and as artists. I have always said that crime writers are the loveliest writers and Katherine has always been a good mate of the Tale Peddler. This is a lovely photo of her with her dog Grace taken by Scott Campbell for The Courier Mail.

It’s good to have friends.

I am now nearing the end of Currawong Manor but the characters are playing their usual tricks with me and very tricky things are evolving. I am sad at the thought I will shortly have to leave that mysterious house in the misty Blue Mountains and return to the ‘real world’. No doubt my family will be pleased to see me looking half-way presentable again after closing myself away for so long and leaving them to deal with all the domestic affairs. Thank you David for all the school-drop offs, swimming and drama lesson supervision!!

Last Sunday was my father’s anniversary of his death. One year on and he’s always missed and always with me. He was a man who knew the true meaning of dignity, elegance, the power in words, family, nature and good friends.This song is for him. I always find the song so moving and haunting. You can read the story behind the music and lowly Molly’s story – HERE.

Lost Paris

josephinetalepeddlerOctober 26, 2012 2 Comments

Currawong Manor is in its final stages but I’m still working through several strands and twists of the book. This is a larger baby than Poet’s Cottage and I’m loving escaping into my 1940s world in the Blue Mountains. The days have been drizzly and grey – perfect writing or reading weather for me.

It’s my birthday this weekend and although I shall be spending it in my writing shed I can’t think of a better way to spend my day. That’s really the best thing about writing – crafting words and storytelling is breath and life to me.

And on the subject of breath and life, last weekend we met up with my beautiful friend Belinda Alexandra and her family to see this exhibition Lost Paris by Eugene Atget at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It’s on until November 4th and well worth a look if you’re in Sydney. Eugene Atget inspired the Surrealists, Man Ray amongst others. His images document a city before Haussmann’s modernisation of Parisian streets in the 19th century. His images are haunting and every so often you see figures within them that look like ghosts.

If you enjoy reading Kate Mosse you will really appreciate this show.I’ve just read Mosse’s Winter Ghosts and it contains the spirit of these evocative images. I loved Atget’s work because he captures the everyday in a magical sense. Whilst there I ran into more friends of mine and Tim joined us in the cafe together discussing art, magic, writing and lots of stimulating topics

Afterwards we wandered through the botanical gardens and saw cockatoos drinking from water fountains, scarecrows and plump kookaburras. No melancholic, haunted streets of Paris, but dazzling blue Sydney sky. The light was perfect.

Thank you for visiting me. Keep creative. And here is some pretty music below from the very pretty Mediaeval Baebes with Veni Veni Bella. xx

NEW MOON BOOK JOY

josephinetalepeddlerOctober 15, 2012 6 Comments

Hello,

I interrupt my deadline writing of Currawong Manor to share with you the parcel that arrived for me this week.

Josephine Pennicott opening box of Dornen Tochter

In this day of the machine mania, it’s such a special joy for an author to have their words so beautifully translated into a hardcover. Ullstein publishers in Germany have outdone themselves with their presentation of my Poet’s Cottage (Dornen Tochter in Germany).

I wish I could transit the smell to you over the internet for there is nothing more glorious than the smell of good paper and beautifully bound books with a ripping story inside the beautiful cover art. I also love the smell of new shoes in a box, newborn babies, Chanel perfume, rain after a storm in the garden but the book wins! And the glorious weight, heavy cover and good quality paper make this German girl beautiful to hold.

Josephne Pennicott with Dornen Tochter

Thank you so much to all at Ullstein involved in the production of Dornen Tochter. It brings me immense pleasure to know over the moon and on the other side of the world people are reading my Tasmanian sea-fishing village murder mystery. I loved the bag that was made of the book and the television advertisement which you can see HERE was also beyond anything I could have dreamt of. Nothing beats an author meeting their book for the first time. So much excitement in my garden of Spring roses.

And if you are interested in my garden writing shed, the beautiful Terri Windling whom I have admired as a visual artist, a writer, a blogger and a person for many years has featured my shed on her inspirational blog. Whenever I visit The Drawing Board I feel I have wandered into a magical tavern filled with kindred spirits who love the Bloomsbury set, fantastical worlds and words, who heed the call of Wild Man and Wild Woman of the woods – folk who listen and understand the truth of fairies, Pre Raphaelites, and represent so much that’s noble and decent about this planet. Including her very noble and charming dog, Tilly on his walks in the Devon woods.

Terri Windling and Tilly

I always drink deeply from the well of inspiration Terri offers and one of my writing highlights was that she selected Circle of Nine (my first published book in a fantasy trilogy) as one of the world’s best debut fantasy novels of the year in her esteemed 2001 Best Fantasy and Horror (Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow, editors). Terri’s wonderful book The Wood Wife was a major influence for me, showing what you can achieve with mythic/fantastical writing.

If you’re keen for a peep inside my writing shed where I’m closeted away doing long hours at the moment, you can find me at Terri’s Drawing Board HERE.

Thanks for visiting me. Keep creative and may the new moon bring blessings of inspired creativity and wishes. xx

image of Terri and Tilly via HERE

Full Moon Rising

josephinetalepeddlerOctober 4, 2012 0 Comments

We’ve just passed the Spring Equinox in Sydney. You can feel the garden hum when I walk out in the morning to go to the writing shed with all the new colourful floral growth.

I celebrated the Equinox with my women’s spiritual group. As much as I dread the coming summer, even I have to admit this is a lovely time of year with such a celebratory feeling and a whiff of hope in the warmer air. Look at the amazing full moon that I photographed over my garden this week.

The full moon brought me good fortune as I am happy to say I’ve made the shortlist again for the annual Sisters in Crime Scarlet Stiletto Awards to be held in Melbourne in November.

I’m thrilled to have shortlisted as every year the bar gets higher for me to compete. The competition is intense. I have been fortunate enough to previously win many categories including two Kerry Greenwood Malice Domestic awards and also the coveted shoe itself for first prize in the Scarlet Stilettos. I am hoping one year I will join the few authors who have won a pair of shoes (once you win a pair you are no longer eligible to compete).

This year my good writing friend Liz Filluel is also on the shortlist and so fingers crossed for both of us. I was told by my tarot reader earlier in the year there would be a trip to Melbourne and so this looks as if she was accurate again. I keep meaning to update the blog I did earlier on my reading with her as I’ve had several people interested in exactly what she said but I’ve been so busy with writing. Watch this space.

I’m pushing very long hours on Currawong Manor at the moment as my deadline is October and there’s still a few plot strands to be woven together. I’m really enjoying my time at Currawong Manor and not looking forward to when I have to bid my characters adieu again. There’s been lots of 4am starts and lovely mother friends taking my daughter into their homes during the holidays so I can put the hours in which I’m eternally grateful for.

It would be lovely to take a family holiday and relax. l keep having fantasies of balmy tropical islands or long cruises where I don’t have to do anything except read, write and watch the water go by. Such as this image which I’m drooling over.

I enjoyed Jennifer Byrne’s interview with JK Rowling recently on ABC promoting Rowling’s new book, The Casual Vacancy. I thought Rowling seemed very down to earth for the surreal world she now occupies.

Daisy has just discovered Harry Potter and is totally smitten with Rowling’s creation. She can’t go anywhere without her invisibility cloak and wand.

Along with many last week, I was shocked and deeply saddened by the rape and murder of Jill Meagher, a beautiful young girl who harboured a dream to be a writer but was taken far too early to fulfil her ambitions in a cruel and savage manner. And this death needn’t have occurred – our prison system obviously needs an overhaul.

All women of this country are never safe when they walk the streets alone. We know that there could be lurking predators at any hour, waiting their chance. But when you have a system that releases multiple offenders – the judge had said the man had no hope of rehabilitation – then what hope have we got when the monsters are allowed to walk free?

Out of respect for Jill’s family I won’t say any more but the very least we can do for this young woman’s memory is work to GET THE LAWS CHANGED.

Here’s one of my power spots to share with you near the Spring Equinox. I love to visit here and soak up the energy. No, it’s not my back garden but I feel that I have a connection to this enchanted place. I’ve been blessed with many story and book ideas in this magical garden.

Wishing you joy, beauty and balance in your life and creativity this coming week.

image of garden source HERE