‘The Banjo’ & Waltzing Matilda
‘There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around That the colt from [...]
Writer’s Festivals
It's been a busy few months with the release of my eighth novel, An Uncommon Woman. A tour of the western Downs region of Queensland was a great week allowing me to see more of our wonderful countryside, catch up with relatives - there are a lot of Alexander's over the border from NSW, and [...]
The 1920s modern woman
Women were granted the right to vote in Australia in 1902 - we were far more forward thinking than some of our Northern hemisphere contemporaries, and the wave of feminism that followed continued through the first and second world war and onwards. The Great War increased independence for some, with women taking on the roles [...]
The golden age of the travelling circus
Australia’s first circus opened in Launceston, Tasmania in 1847. Three evenings a week, in the yard of Radford's Horse & Jockey Inn, Robert Radford's company presented feats of horsemanship, dancing, vaulting, gymnastics, acrobatics and clowning. Circus-like exhibitions had been given previously, however no-one had ever seen anything quite like this before. This circus launched the [...]
Using the property for inspiration
The writing process is one that initially comes in fits and starts for me. I’m not a big plotter. I don’t have an A to Z guide and I rarely know what the middle and ending is going to be when I first begin a new novel. This keeps the work fresh and exciting for [...]
Giving the bush a voice
Australian rural literature is steeped in tradition. Although historically only a small portion of our population have lived outside the major cities, many of Australia’s most distinctive stories and indeed legends, originate in the outback. Beyond the urban fringe are the characters that populate our vast nation, they include; drovers and squatters, farmers and graziers, [...]
Coffee-break Quick-Pick: The Hands: A Pastoral
In Stephen Orrs The Hands: A Pastoral, a cattle property in the middle of the desert has been in the family for generations. But life on the farm has been hard for a long time. The drought is decimating the cattle herd and the stress of living and working on a property that it is [...]
Writing frontier Australia.
I'm extraordinarily grateful for the great reception that my last novel, Wild Lands received. In writing about the opening up of northern New South Wales in the 1830s I was cautioned by some who were concerned about my writing from the perspective of both white settlers and Australia's First People. I was also reminded by others [...]
News for Book Clubs – Wild Lands
For those of you who are members of one of the many book clubs across our wonderful country you may enjoy these reading group questions for Wild Lands. What is the common bond that brings Kate and Adam together? Who is your favourite character and why? Displacement and dispossession are major themes in the [...]
An untamed land – Wild Lands. Inspiration
When I began thinking about my new novel, Wild Lands, as always I was mindful of my own rural background and the pioneering spirit required by my family when they first selected land in the northwest of New South Wales. Ive always drawn on my familys history for inspiration when it comes to writing my [...]