Category Archives: Uncategorized

This stone lion reminds me a little of the lion in The Wizard of Oz. Not scary at all. He’s in the gardens beside Lake Wendouree in Ballarat.

I’ve been sorting and throwing out again. Notebooks, this time. Notebooks – you might call them journals or even diaries – are a habit of mine. I like buying them; I like starting new ones; I like the idea of … Continue reading →

There’s a new bookshop in town – antiquarian and second-hand – called Mount of Alex. Very exciting for the book-hounds of the area. A week ago I called in and asked about Joan Aiken books, because I stupidly gave away … Continue reading →

I’m going to be spending a lot of time in here because I have another Verity book to write. Deadline is April 2014. I began in earnest on the 1st of the month. I always like to make a new … Continue reading →

Trash. Rubbish. Disposable or disposed of. Your trash could be my treasure – or vice versa – but we all know sometimes it’s just what you need. What you have to have, along with soft-centred chocolates in the afternoon. Trashy … Continue reading →

When your part of the country is drought-prone, it seems all wrong to wish the rain would stop. But oh, I’m so tired of grey skies! A few days in a row of sunny weather had me tricked into believing … Continue reading →

A favourite book from my childhood was Anthony and Antimacassar by Mary and Rowland Emmett. It was first published in 1943; one of my parents must have bought it. Perhaps when they were in England in the early 1950s. Rowland … Continue reading →

Here’s the talk I gave at M.A.D.E as part of the Melbourne Writer’s Festival on Sunday. My Verity books are junior novels aimed at readers –who seem to be mainly girls – of around 10 to 12 or 13. They’re … Continue reading →

The CBCA Book of the Year awards were announced this week, and I’m so pleased for all the winning and honour book authors. I loved The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett, which I thought was an old-fashioned children’s … Continue reading →