From the 1860s to the 1930s Afghan cameleers were indispensable in servicing Australia’s inland pastoral regions. Although known generically as Afghans these expert teamsters came from the North-West frontier province (then under British rule) now known as Pakistan as well as Iran, India, Afghanistan, Egypt and Turkey. ‘Harry’ the first camel to arrive in Australia [...]
As March 1st is publication day for The Last Station., I thought I'd share why I wanted to write it. When it comes to deciding on the subject matter for a historical novel some of the questions I ask myself include; is it a fascinating period in Australian history and if so are the actual [...]
The Last Station Well, here it is at last. My eleventh novel. Out March 1st. It took some wrangling to get this one into shape. The initial concept came to me some years ago, having decided upon the Darling River as the touchstone for the work. A river that is vital, changeable, and ultimately unreliable [...]
A few people have messaged me about where to buy a copy of The Last Station so I have attached this handy link below courtesy of my publisher Penguin Random House. If you click through you'll be able to pre-order/buy from any number of outlets, but of course your fav bookstore will have it in [...]
The 1960s. Life in the bush is filled with busy work days, long hours spent out in the sun working with livestock, planting or harvesting crops, or in the paddock mending or constructing fences, sheds and yards, delving bore drains, fixing windmills or digging new dams so vital water flows. The weekends however are bliss. [...]
Cover reveal! The Last Station will be out March 1st. It's been three years in the crafting, from initial concept to outline (6 if I count the initial idea), numerous drafts, a first chapter that I rewrote 14 times, not to mention the other chapters and a couple of characters who didn't make the cut, [...]
In 1788, the convict Thomas Hill was rowed out to a 49 foot high sandstone islet in the middle of Sydney harbour. He was left there for a week in irons, subsisting on bread and water until he caught sight of the dinghy that was to bring him ashore. On his return, it's said that [...]
What an honour it has been to be Chair of judging for this years ARA Historical Novel Prize. Along with fellow judges Carmel Bird and Roanna Gonsalves it has been a fiendishly difficult task. The shortlist has recently been announced, and the three wonderful novels in contention for Australia's richest genre-based literary prize are noted [...]
A writer's thoughts: I've never been one for soppy love stories. Unless you count the first couple of series of Outlander which matched love and adventure and damn good story-telling. However after the author scurried her characters across the seas leaving Scotland and all those glorious men in kilts to wander the lochs and hills [...]
The man who defied shackles, chains, heights, padlocks, earth and water nearly suffocated to death when he was restrained in a coffin and buried six feet underground. Harry Houdini the supreme escapologist, survived to tour Australia in 1910. He arrived with his wife and an aeroplane as well an array of tricks that surpassed the [...]
