“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” ? Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Do you love going to a movie…
Introducing Ben from Bond Springs Station, NT 1. Summary of your family and farming enterprise My Family started in the Flinders Ranges, and then in 1959 my Mum moved to the NT as a School of the Air Governess. She loved the Red Centre so her and Dad purchased Bond Springs Station in the…
Risk New York was on my turning 30 list, along with writing a book. In October 2007 I was 30 + 6 months and I’d done neither. The prods were getting stronger – not least of which was an ironically-titled writing commission; ‘Things to Try Before You Die’. It was big – 5000 words…
Introducing Angus Whyte from Wyndam, North of Wentworth, NSW 1. Summary of your family and farming enterprise My name is Angus Whyte I live with my wife Kelly and 8 year old son Mitchell at “Wyndham”, a 12,500ha pastoral property on the Anabranch River 85km north of Wentworth NSW. We consider ourselves “graziers”, in…
As the first guest blogger for 2012 I’m over the moon to have the witty and gorgeous Jessica Rudd. You can follow her on Twitter @Jess_Rudd or on Facebook here. Jess, 27, had three career changes in as many years—law, PR, politics—but is now going steady with her life as a writer. She hopes…
Yesterday we woke to our hill being shrouded in heavy, low cloud and gentle showers pushing up from the coast. It was a beautiful way to start the day, especially after the pounding we had on Thursday evening. It was the most incredible thunderstorm I have ever seen and we netted a whopping 46mm…
As I said in my first blog for 2012, it’s going to be a busy year! The Year of Reading, Year of Silver Gums (that’s my own ‘Year of’ for writing) and the Australian Year of the Farmer. A bit about Year of the Farmer from their website: Australian Year of the Farmer…
Sometime people get Christmas presents just right. My brother and his wife has just returned from about six months overseas and they did their Christmas shopping at Harrods of all places! Anyone who knows me well knows I panic easily – at the drop of a hat really and I turn molehills into mountains…
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…