The Cedar Tree (published 2020) at #19 on Better Readings Top 100 Books

Drum roll! Super excited that The Cedar Tree was voted in at No. 19 for Better Reading s Top 100 Books, and particularly chuffed that I'm rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tim Winton (#18) and Trent Dalton (#20). Thankyou to everyone who voted!    

By | May 1st, 2022|A WRITERS LIFE|2 Comments

What the Irish famine and Australia have in common.

It’s said that everything and everyone is interconnected in some way. I often find when I’m sleuthing for facts when writing that some snippet of information will pop up and I’m left pondering the events that link people and places together. This happened about twelve months ago when I was reading up on the Strzelecki [...]

One dodgy French nobleman & the Italian emigrants who settled in rural NSW

The Marquis de Rays. What an exotic name. It conjures wealth, European lands and a noble linage. But names and appearances can be deceptive and the Marquis de Rays, a French Nobleman was a scoundrel and con-artist supreme. The Marquis ripped off poor settlers in the late 1800s offering the ‘promised land’ but eventually after [...]

By | April 6th, 2020|Australian History, Inspiration|0 Comments

Nicole Alexander & The Cedar Tree FACEBOOK LIVE THURS 26th MARCH 12noon AEDT

If you missed Nicole's virtual launch please head to her facebook page the post has been saved! 

By | April 6th, 2020|A WRITERS LIFE, Writing advice|0 Comments

Researching in the Strzeleckie Desert – The story behind The Cedar Tree Part 2

Why place a character in the middle of no-where? In The Cedar Tree, Italian-raised Stella Moretti marries into the O’Riain family during World War Two and finds herself living on a sheep property on the barren edges of the Strzelecki Desert. Slowly her life unravels. Of course the Far West of NSW, specifically Corner Country, [...]

The story behind The Cedar Tree Part one

When I began crafting The Cedar Tree, I wanted to explore the idea of what it means to be free; individually, as a community, a society and, ultimately, as a country. How far an individual is willing to go to obtain their liberty is matched only by the cost associated with gaining that freedom. And then there [...]

Load More Posts