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.

The dawn of a new book

Today starts the dawn of a new book. Which seems crazy because I’m still doing publicity for Crimson Dawn! It’s fun and daunting all at the same time. Sitting down and staring at a blank screen is the scary bit. Having my imagination running amok with characters, plots and exciting things, is the extremely fun…

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Mornings

I am not a “greeny”, by any stretch of the imagination. However I do believe we are only custodians for our land, which means we need to hand it on the the next generation in a better condition than what we were given in it. I do, however, LOVE to commune with nature. This time…

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Guest Blog: Annabelle Brayley

Introducing the lovely Annabelle Brayley of OUTBACK NURSES fame! SHe’s chatting about her love of rural fiction and her new offering, Outback Nurses. Hello Fleur, Thank you so much for inviting me to be a guest on your blog. Although I generally write non-fiction myself, Australian fiction captivates me and the evolution of the authors…

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Guest blog: Helene Young, Safe Harbour

Welcome to Helene Young, who is chatting with me today! Helene and I have been talking online for years! I’m not sure, but I think our books came out with a year or so of each other.  Today I’m really thrilled she’s popped across to write about her new book, Safe Harbour. I LOVE Helene’s…

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Phew, my head is still spinning!

I guess, if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll know I’ve just had a whirlwind tour of NSW and WA for the release of Crimson Dawn. And whirlwind, or at least head spinning, it was! It was so incredibly exciting to visit places I’d only ever heard about before. Booktopia‘s John Purcell and…

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Standing on the brink…

Some times I have to pinch myself. When I first starting writing, I never could have dreamed what type of journey it my imagination would lead me on. (That might sound weird, but it’s my imagination which writes the books.) Who would have ever thought that i was standing on the brink of a two…

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Crimson Dawn update

I’m sorry, I really don’t know where this time has gone. It’s only NINE days until the Crimson Dawn launch and only SEVEN days until it might hit the shelf in your bookstore and TWELVE days until it will definitely be in the shops. Ugh. Nerves. Still, I gotta harden up… But, no matter what…

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Guest blog: Reach for the Dream

I love nothing more than sitting down with a good book and escaping from reality. Not that reality is bad, but a break from it leaves you refreshed and ready to tackle whatever life throws at you next. As you would probably guess, I love reading Rural Lit books – not that I read as…

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G is for…

I seriously can’t believe we’re up to G already! Where has the time gone to? Before we start I just need to wish Bushbabe a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I’m so thrilled we’ve become friends across the inter webs and she’s an important part of my life. Amanda from Bush Babe of Oz has chosen ‘Grazing’…

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Procrastinating at its best!

  I’m supposed to be writing a speech. Don’t like writing them much (said in a petulant tone!). It’s difficult to write about myself when I’m ‘just Fleur’. I’m nothing out of the ordinary, or different or anything like that, so I’m sort of stuck on what to write about. So I thought I’d do…

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Looking for lambs

In Crimson Dawn, one of the characters, Thomas, talks of ‘sea of sheep’ stretching as far as the eye could see. I felt like this on Friday! We had to run 4,000 ewes through the yards to get them preg-scanned. Our vet travels the 100+ kilometres from town with his ultrasound wand and screen, we…

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F is for…

Now let’s not think in the gutter here, kids! F is NOT what for what you’re thinking! It’s for Farming, fences, fires, fertiliser, foxes and ferals. But today we’re only talking about three of these. Amanda from Bush Babe of Oz – F is for FENCES Among the tools farmers use in their everyday work,…

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E is for…

We know, we know! We’re a day late in posting this week. It was a public holiday here in the West yesterday and besides me being out at the farm and madly cooking and cleaning for the week ahead, Rural Miss was also doing public holiday farm things and Bushbabe was busy with her things. So,…

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Drought is a frightening word

After watching Landline a few weeks ago, I wrote this article on drought and why the powers that be, government, farming bodies and so on, can’t make decisions on drought relief in the middle of drought. It’s too raw and emotional. The article first appeared on The ABC’s The Drum website, then was published in…

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The countdown begins!

The 1st of March is always an exciting day – not only is it my daughter’s birthday, it usually means there’s 28 days until my next book is out. It’s the same this year. 28 days until the launch, although this time, Crimson Dawn isn’t officially due out until the 1st of April. However it…

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You have the power…

  Yesterday was a crappy day. You know how they just pop up out of nowhere? How they hit you by surprise and at the end of the day, you’re left wondering who the hell you ran over to get such a day? Yeah, well it was one of them. Maybe it was because I…

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The silent, quiet deaths

I’m sitting here at my desk, completely torn. Charlotte Dawson’s death has pierced my heart. I can’t imagine what her friends and family are feeling right now. At the same time, I feel a little sad about all the out-pouring of grief over social media. Because she was famous her death is getting so much…

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D is for…

I can’t believe we’re up to D. Can anyone tell me where these past four weeks have gone? (Actually where today has gone… Sorry I’m running late with posting this blog!)  What between Outback Paparazzi, this A – Z of Farming Series and getting ready for the launch and tour of CrimsonDawn, oh not to…

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Puff, puff, (pause) pant, pant…

Are you a New Years Resolution maker? How do you go with keeping them? I’m not so crash hot. I always come up with the normal ones; ‘must lose weight, going to be more organised, get fit…’ Hahahaha. What a laugh. It never happens. This may seem slightly off-topic but it’s not, I promise! This…

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