Author Archives: susan

  Yesterday I beguiled a train trip to and from Melbourne – a bit less than 3 hours – with Withering -by-Sea: A Stella Montgomery Intrigue by Judith Rossell. As you can see from the shiny circle on the cover, … Continue reading →

On Sunday 12th July, Verity Sparks and the Scarlet Hand was launched at Buda Historic Home and Garden in Castlemaine. Claire Hutchison, the administrator, had very kindly offered Buda as a venue for the launch –  it was the perfect … Continue reading →

I am sure that the odd mixture of ideas in my head is a result of the odd mixture of books (all from the bargain box I scored at the local library sale) and newspapers and magazines I’m currently reading. … Continue reading →

I was going to write about the novel I’ve just finished – Margaret Drabble’s The Garrick Year – but got waylaid as I looked in various picture files on  my desk- top. Somehow the koala pictures got into a file … Continue reading →

I have been reading the new Robert Macfarlane, Landmarks. An intense language experience. Something that I first realised many years ago, when I was first beginning to write as an adult, is that specific vocabularies, the real words for things, … Continue reading →

Well, I failed on the ‘Sunday is blogday’ front. Perhaps it’s ‘Blog once a week.’ So here it is. My other attempt at discipline is a sort of 4/7 rule…work on my novel four days a week. No matter how … Continue reading →

Sunday, I’ve decided, is Blogday. No excuses, just do it. Once  a week is nothing, really: in a recent tour of the blogiverse – looking at young writer’s blogs – I see that for some of them it’s EVERY DAY. … Continue reading →

Do I need more books? No, not really, but I can’t resist Op Shops. A few weeks ago, I exited the Salvos shop with a pale grey mohair cabled jumper, a stripy T-shirt, some old knitting patterns and these.   … Continue reading →

If you were at our house, you would have just heard a very angry rant, full of expletives and delivered at higher volume than necessary. In other words, I was shouty and sweary and cross. Why? Searching for a front-cover … Continue reading →

I’m finding that autumn is like spring. After this recent rain, all over the garden plants that died off over summer are poking their heads up and starting to live again. Like Mary in The Secret Garden, I’m excited. I … Continue reading →