Fleur McDonald is one of Australia’s leading rural literature authors, with her books becoming best sellers almost as quickly as they hit the shelves. Having sold over 500,000 copies of her books, she has solidified her position as one of the country’s favourite storytellers.

Itchy eyes means hay making

It’s time for itchy eyes, ears and throats. Time for burning diesel and driving tractors. Time for all hands on deck. We grow pasture hay, for our animals. In a year like this; as wet as it’s been, the pastures have gone ballistic! We’ve had clover/ryegrass pastures half way between our ankle and knee! Can’t…

READ MORE

My new life

Have you ever had event in your life that makes you stand up and say; ‘That’s it. I’m changing.’ Or have you ever got yourself into a rut that is so hard to pull yourself out from? Well, that’s me. On both accounts. For those who follow me through Facebook, Twitter, or this blog, you’ll…

READ MORE

When opportunity knocks

Every so often an opportunity arrives, that you just can’t pass up, no matter the circumstances. Harvest and Hay making are extremely important in farming world. Hay means there is food for the stock during the dry times and harvest is the money making part of the year. This year, canola harvest and hay making…

READ MORE

Crimson Dawn – an update

My next book, Crimson Dawn, is due out at the beginning of April next year. It’s been a hard slog to get it done, but my ever-patient publisher now how the file in their office. (Considering my deadline was June of this year and I didn’t submit until the 24th of September, I think Allen…

READ MORE

Saying Goodbye

Writing for me is therapy. And this is about my journey with Mrs. Mac: For the last four years, my day to day life has been shaped around a strong and determined woman. My mother-in-law has been sick for some time, but it was only during these four years, that she has needed me to…

READ MORE

I’m back!

Hello! I’m finally back on my blog. I’m sorry I haven’t been around here much over the last few months, but there has been a bit going on in my world, which has stopped me from writing. One of them being the need to finish Crimson Dawn. I’m pleased to say I have done just…

READ MORE

Bush Tales by Pip Courtney ABC Landline

Some of you may know that Rachael Treasure, Nicole Alexander and I were lucky enough to be on Landline last weekend. It was Pip Courtney’s report and we all thank her very much for her time in coming to visit it most of us. If you missed it, here it is!   http://www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2013/s3822649.htm

READ MORE

Calling all Queenslanders…

It’s been ages since I’ve blogged – I don’t think I’ve ever left it quite as long! Sorry to all the people who keep popping over for updates on our farming/writing world. We’ve been so busy actually farming, I haven’t had time to write about it! I’ve also been frantically finishing off Crimson Dawn, for…

READ MORE

Book Shelves

Winter has hit east of Esperance. This morning when I got up at 5am, it was a rather chilly 10 degrees. And because dawn hadn’t hit yet, it was about to get cooler. The temperature dropped two degrees in the first hour I was up. Reasonable to expect I guess, considering ‘they’ (whoever ‘they’ are)…

READ MORE

Down she pours…

I love winter. It’s my season. I love the way the wind bites at my cheeks and the sound of rain on a tin roof/window/shearing shed/ground. It’s like music to me. And rain it did last night! The deluge woke me at 12:15am and I was still listening to it drum steadily on the roof at…

READ MORE

Outside my window…

Usually I would write long descriptions of what appears outside my window, but I really think these photos speak for themselves. What I would suggest, though, as you are looking through them, is to close your eyes and imagine you have been away from home twelve out of the last fourteen days. You haven’t felt…

READ MORE

A Mother’s Day giveaway!

“It’s a marvelous night for a moon dance”… Ah, I mean a marvellous morning for an early morning trip to town! You’ll know, if you’ve been following any of my social media of action, lately, that we’ve been seeding. One of my pet hates about growing Canola is The Boss spends so much time on…

READ MORE

Farms, quiet? No way!

It’s a bit chilly in our neck of the woods! Over the weekend, our temps dropped well below 15 degrees – in fact there was one time I looked at the weather station and I saw 13c. Winter is well on it’s way. Autumn is lambing  and these girls below, have had their lambs, they’re…

READ MORE

Guest author: Therese Creed

At the moment, the Rural Lit genre is growing incredibly fast. It seems every month there is not one, but two or three new releases finding their way onto the shelves, everywhere. Today marks the in-store date for debut author Therese Creed. Her novel Redstone Station is published by my publishers, Allen and Unwin and…

READ MORE

An early morning visitor…

  A couple of mornings ago, staggering from broken sleep, bleary eyed, I emerged into the world of consciousness by a beautiful sunrise. For those of you who follow this blog, you’ll probably know I’m a bit keen on sunrises and sunsets and I’m often rushing off at the most inappropriate times (like when I…

READ MORE

A dog’s life…

With The Boss on the boom-spray practically every day for the last two weeks, our working dogs, Weasel and Law have been hanging out with the kids and me. We’ve been checking out sunsets, heifers calving, watching the tractor go ’round in that ‘beautiful circle‘, Sara Storer sings of. So really, they’re on an extended…

READ MORE

Dancing Moon Beams

Full moon time is always noisy at our place. The soft light allows the dogs to see a lot more than they usually would. Meita, still being so young and not doing a lot of work (therefore having much more energy than the older dogs) is the main culprit. Bark, bark, bark, all night! At…

READ MORE

Anzac Memories

It’s customary to start seeding canola around Anzac day. Well, we started ours the day before. And while most people were at a Dawn Service, this morning, I was out checking the heifers, waiting for a truck load of lambs to arrive, so they could be unloaded. Like many families in this country, I have…

READ MORE

Guest blog: Honey Brown

  I think everyone who comes onto my site, knows I love thrillers, murder mysteries and crime novels. This also includes psychological thrillers. Silence of the Lambs is a book I love – and yes, I love the movie too. Honey Brown writes such books and Dark Horse is her latest offering. As with many…

READ MORE