Category Archives: Uncategorized

After my mammoth YA effort for the Bendigo Writer’s Festival, I’ve been struggling to focus on reading. I’m not enjoying our Book Group August title – “Foal’s Bread” by Gillian Mears – and I don’t really know why. Perhaps I’m … Continue reading →

How come I’ve never read this before? I had a hour and a half train journey today, and just devoured this book. It is devastatingly good. Just as well I am somewhat inhibited – I felt like telling someone, immediately, … Continue reading →

Bendigo Writer’s Festival this week. I spent all day there Friday and yesterday –  listening, talking, meeting people. My brain is buzzing with ideas. A real winter boost for the soul, and so very, very enjoyable! I haven’t had time … Continue reading →

A shout out to Kathryn McAllister at Stonemans Bookroom in Castlemaine, where I work. She reads a lot more YA fiction than I do, and she pushed this one into my hands. I thought I would hate this book and … Continue reading →

Four new books! I am preparing a talk for Text Marks the Spot, the schools program of the Bendigo Writer’s Festival, so right now, I am reading, reading, reading. Which is great, as we’re in the depths of winter and … Continue reading →

Kelly Barnhill’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon was winner of the Newberry Medal in 2017. Here’s what the blurb on the back says. Every year the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as a sacrifice to the witch … Continue reading →

I have a lovely stack of children’s books here in front of me – more than a weekend’s reading, probably, but I hope to get through them quickly. Because I’ll be reading the same number  again, a couple of times, … Continue reading →

Last weekend, I went to a friend’s house for a ritual burning. Don’t worry – no humans or animals were harmed. Both of us were in the process of clearing the backlog of documents and paperwork that had been cluttering … Continue reading →

In mid-May, I gave a couple of library talks about my novel “How Bright Are All Things Here”. One was at Woodend, and the other was here in Castlemaine. Here’s an edited version of the talk. A question I’ve been … Continue reading →

First day of winter. I’m here in a north-facing room – in front of the heater! – looking out of the window, and the sun is shining. There are still lots of coloured leaves on the fruit trees in the … Continue reading →