ORDER Fleur's newest novel 'Into the Night'
I wrote about traditions a couple of blog posts ago and mentioned Rochelle would be cooking our New Years Eve meal. Which she did with great aplomb! Yummy chicken drumsticks in a mustard and honey marinade and salad. It’s pretty hard to be a great cook though, when there isn’t any power! New Years Eve…
Well the sun set on a fairly crappy year last night and to be perfectly honest, I’m pleased to see the back of 2011. (I have to say, many people I’ve spoken to have found 2011 to be a bad year, so I don’t think it’s just our community that wanted to hold a…
One of the things I love about being married is two familles worth of traditions combine. I like traditions, especially around Christmas and birthdays. As a kid I loved knowing that we would go to the small Christmas pageant which was held in Orroroo every Christmas eve. I enjoyed the carols which were held either…
Blurb for Purple Roads (cover to follow soon!) Purple Roads will be available in April 2012. When Anna and Matt finally buy their dream farm, their struggles aren’t quite over. First it’s patchy rain and poor crops, then Matt has an accident … and even when the heavens finally open all might yet be lost.…
It’s CHRISTmas Eve! Can you believe it? This year has just flown by. And I must say, with cool, overcast conditions, it really doesn’t seem like Christmas! Our house is a flurry of activity at the moment – son is mowing the front lawn, daughter is tiding her room (no small job, let me…
Barry Nicholls – Author and ABC journalist – oh, and sports fanatic! Clarence Darrow – The attorney of the damnedby John Farrell When the Garden was Eden; Clyde, The Captain, Dollar Bill and the glory days of the New York Knicks by Harvey Araton An Eye for Eternity – the life of Manning Clarke…
Fiona Palmer Author of Rural Fiction including The Road Home (to be released in April 2012): For Dad: Frank Coates ‘Softly Calls the Serengeti’ and Goldie Goldbloom’s The Paperbark Shoe because it’s set in the WA wheat belt. For Mum: I’ve purchased two guide books on Italy, as she’s planning a trip in 2013.…
In a dystopian near-future, genetic engineering, radical surgery and a regime of drugs can give you something humans have always dreamed about: the ability to fly. If you have the money, you can join this self-created elite: the winged. These fliers are not only given wings; they have their own architecture, fashion, religion and…
Weaning is a fun time of year for me. Perhaps not for the calves as they’ve been taken from their mothers for the first time! Weaning is much the same for calves as it is for human babies when mum decides it’s time to no longer feed from breast or bottle. Or when it comes…
I guess to write a book you need some sort of imagination. Imagination is something I have and have had since I was very little. I was encouraged to have imagination – my Nana Parnell would tell me stories – stories that came from her head, without pictures or books. I had to guess what…
Do you ever go into book shops and become overwhelmed with choices? I do. Mainly because my budget doesn’t allow me to buy everything I want to, nor does time allow me to read all the books that are begging me to buy them! I hope that the next few posts might be able to…
This normal-looking purple book holds they key to my imagination. It’s where I write down every thought and detail I have for my next book, Silver Gums. I can’t tell you much about it at the moment, as I’m still working through the plot, ideas and characters. This time I have done things…
Miss Meita is a gorgeous dog. In fact it’s been a while since a dog has stolen my heart the way she has. Oh, I love all dogs – they are my favourite animal, but Meita is special – almost as special as my Old Rexy. But, she is mischievous! And maybe a bit…
Are you still searching for that perfect Christmas present? I’ve put together this fabulous gift pack to help make your shopping easier. The gift pack includes either Red Dust or Blue Skies – the choice is entirely yours! You will also receive a beautiful Bush Babe of Oz 2012 Calendar that features many of Amanda’s…
I’ve had a trip to Perth recently and I took advantage of not having any ‘distractions’ such as kids, husband or farm, to finish the edits for Purple Roads. I worked until late on Tuesday night and although I will never say I’m ‘happy’ with it – that’s just not in my nature; I am…
My mate, Anna Hill, penned this poem the day she delivered me to the airport, last week. Now I would like to lay claim that it was our talk of farming that twigged her flurry of creativity, but alas, I think that might be taking too much credit! This version of ‘The Night Before Christmas’…
I’m really pleased to have Bush Babe from Oz blogging with me today. She’s a Rainbow. She’s an awesome gal, photographer, worker and mum. We met through the Australia (or rather world)-shrinking device of Twitter; I was drawn to her beautiful photography and she was drawn by my… Well actually I’m not sure. I don’t…
Penni Russon is a fellow Allen and Unwin author who writes Young Adult fiction. I’m always on the lookout for fantastic YA writers because my daughter reads everything I put in front of her, including this wonderful book, Only Ever Always. Penni has also written three other books for Allen and Unwin’s GirlFriend Fiction. …
There is a lady in Esperance who, every time she sees me, asks me if I’m writing my next book. When I say yes, she’s always surprised, but even more so when I say I have a deadline. ‘Oh, you have to write to a deadline?’ ‘Yes, yes I do,’ I nod. ‘Really? I thought…
As the time for the unedited proof copies of Purple Roads to go to the printers, nears, my editing time seems to be shrinking – gasp! Late last week I got the third round of edits back and although there’s still a reasonable amount to do, there is a backlog of farm and housework that…
I love the hustle and bustle of harvest. If you discount the fact that you spend about fifteen hours a day, itching and sticking to vinyl seats that you have to peel yourself off of, harvest could be one of my favourite times of the year. Unfortunately those two things don’t help endear itself to…