ORDER Fleur's newest novel 'Into the Night'
Marketing your book is such a difficult thing. We’re told that our publishing house will do it for us, but after an in-depth discussion with my publicist, a few other authors and watching ‘The Tuesday Book Club’s’ episode with Lee Child, Matthew Reilly, Bryce Courtney and Di Morrissey, I think we’ve all decided that authors have to…
I’ve had some stickers printed! If you would like a sticker signed by me, then please contact us through the email system here. Give me all the relevant details – your address, who you would like the sticker made out to and so on, I’ll get one in the mail to you as soon as…
I was out about early this morning, helping Anthony fill the combine and getting ready for a day of replenishing the stocks in the pantry! It was very nippy and heavy dew left my fingers wet and cold, not willing to bend. I had to shift some ewes and lambs as soon as it was light…
The phone call came at lunch time: ‘Fleur, would you come and pick your child up, please? She’s had slight accident and needs to go to hospital.’ Enough to strike fear into the heart of any mother, let alone one that was about 10km away from her car, in a clapped out tractor, feeding out…
I hear rainbows have magic powers! Well, here’s hoping it can fix my garden! This was our view as I took the kids to the school bus last week. A rainbow ends on my farm… that’s got to be good. After all, they’re supposed to have a pot of gold at the end, aren’t they? I…
The boss mans’ fishing adventures have been non-existent lately! Between my high-flying (and rather unusual) absences, the rainy weather (not that we’re complaining!) and getting to the busy time of year, it’s been rather difficult to make it to the beach. However, last weekend we all made it down there. A fire, full moon and toasted…
Jodi answered my first phone call to Queensland Writers Centre. From that moment I was hooked on their generosity, willingness to help and love of words. Since then, I’ve made a few phone calls and everyone I speak to exactly the same – as helpful as possible and just… lovely to deal with! An organisation…
It was the most beautiful morning! Calm, clear and not cold, which was nice! The atmosphere pulled me outside for my morning coffee, which was just lovely – especially since it seemed the kids had got out of bed on the wrong side today. It quiet out there and with old retired Rexy (the dog)…
While I was shifting sheep yesterday afternoon, I had to marvel at how quickly the country has responded to the rain. The feed has shot out of the ground, which is lovely because the stock really needed an injection of green feed and all the vitamins that it holds. It was still raining as the…
There is something quite daunting about staring at a blank computer screen and having a story running around in my mind! Knowing that I have to fill the document with 150,000 words, but the story hasn’t quite come together yet, is even more scary! That’s how I’m feeling at the moment. Purple Roads is a book…
Rain just seems to bring the whole countryside alive – animals and humans alike – and the 27mm we had over the weekend has done just that. The menfolk are smiling and you can hear the roar of tractors, sowing the crops or spraying the paddocks, when you walk outside. At night the landscape is dotted with…
Check out this sunrise! I was up early a few weeks ago – it was before the rain we had over this past weekend and things were dry and stark. The morning air, around this time of the year, should be damp and cool, but not this morning! This was a sunrise from the middle of…
Well I must apologise! With the NSW and Tassie Tour, I forgot about drawing the winners for the Readers and Writers Comp’s. But first off, the Kylie Ladd Blog winner: Cal. Cal, your copy of After the Fall, will be winging its way to you shortly, all the way from sunny Broome! Once again, the…
Tasmania is a place I have always wanted to visit. The history of the state is one of the reasons (I love history, especially Australian history) and I love mountains and green grass. Get plenty of that in Tassie! I can’t tell you how much the landscape captivated me – the colours of the trees…
So from Sydney, we caught a flight to Wagga Wagga where we had a book signing at Book City. We weren’t there for long before we started the drive to Goulburn. I spent a lovely hour or so, in the car with Deb, Allen and Unwin’s book seller before I jumped back in the car…
Well as some of you would know, I’ve just finished a whistle-stop tour in NSW. Friday was my first day home and I’ve had a sharp jolt, back to reality! Back out feeding the cows as soon as the kids were on the bus, as we still haven’t had enough rain, to grow any grass. But I…
Kylie Ladd is an inspirational, amazing woman – in fact, I’m not sure I know anyone with as many letters behind their surname , as she has! Kylie is another of my Allen and Unwin friends – she had her first fiction novel, After the Fall published by them in 2009, so along with Lisa Heidke and I,…
‘I’m leaving, on a jet plane…!’ Today I’m packing up my old RM boots and my new bag and I’m heading to Sydney! I feel like I’m saying ‘I’m going to Paris’ or some other exotic location, when I say I’m off to Sydney, because I haven’t been there since I was about seven! So…
Today we’ve been preg-scanning our later lambing ewes and this is what a lamb looks inside the ewe! Our vet Dave uses and ultrasound machine, pretty much the same as one for humans, although it’s smaller and more mobile. Preg-scanning ewes is a great management tool for us. We can get the ‘dry ewes’ out…
Driving to a friends house early a few mornings ago, I came across this amusing sight: a cow, who looks like she might be in the throes of birth and an emu having a staring showdown! Now, I’m guessing, because cows are polite creatures and emus can tend to be a bit bossy, that the cow may…
What a journey Blue Skies is leading me on! I’m going to NSW to meet my whole Allen and Unwin team, who are instrumental in making my books as good as they can be. These women have become friends, through the writing process and I can tell you that A&U are the best team to have behind…