I’ve know Nick all of my life – he’s my brother. I am not biased when it comes to his musical ability. He is seriously good and I’m not the only one who thinks so! “Parnell wields the mallets with the nonchalance of mastery … virtuosity worthy of the highest praise.” – The West Australian…
I’m guessing that many of you think that living on a farm is peaceful. Quiet. Well let me tell you otherwise! It was a gorgeous morning. We’d had a heavy shower the night before, which had netted us 8mm, so we were smiling! The trees and grass were weighted down with rain and everything was…
I met Margareta through writing. In fact writing has introduced to me to so many people. Although Margareta contacted me for help with her writing, we actually became firm friends after discovering we had a few interests the same! It was as I got to know her that I was really taken with her dedication…
Gill and Mandy are mates of mine. We share a love of food and wine, not to mention we are farmers’ wives. These two women haven’t let distance from town stop them opening a catering business – they prepare the most delicious food and are passionate about educating people to the benefits of home cooked…
Our book club wants YOU! Well I asked a little while ago, who would be interested in joining a book club on my website. The response on both Facebook and Twitter was huge! Thanks to Nyssa, I now have a chat room on the site and with internet un-savvy (!) people, like me in mind;…
I met Carolyn though my husband. Anthony was agisting cattle on her husbands property and I think (other than Anthony) she was one of the first people I met, when I arrived in Esperance as a “scared-but-never-going-to-admit-it, don’t-you-know-I’m-tough” nineteen year old! For that, I will be forever grateful! It didn’t take us long to become firm friends…
This is my road map for Purple Roads. I’ve begun to link the book together by scenes and characters. Anna is in the orange texta and Matt in the green. Every time they pop into another characters scene, I write their name in their colour so I can see straight away that they are involved…
Here’s Buck, sitting waiting patiently for the boss to come and let him off! He’s chained in the back of the ute, so he can’t fall off the side (it takes dogs a little while to get their ‘ute’ legs!). Today, Anthony and I were wet and drying a mob of ewes (that means seeing…
Misty mornings bring meaningful memories. I love misty mornings – especially ones that take you by surprise. I had been hanging an early load of washing out, when I walked around the front of the house to see a light mist rolling in from behind the hill. My thought was: ‘Wow. Look at that. Amazing!’ My…
Victoria Brown is a local celeb. In fact, she’s probably the most famous person I know, in person! Vic and I share many things in common; we are farmers’ wives, love writing and reading, theatre, good wine and lots of laughs. Vic takes things one step further than I do – she acts in the…
I’m an exceptionally emotional person – I’m the sort of person that cries over a ‘help the poor/disadvantaged/orphans’ ad, as well as the beautiful baby/nappy ad! When I read books, I tend to be right along side the characters – walking with them- as they experience their own story. I’ve just finished a book and, as I…
So here we are, writing a third book! I’m not really sure I ever thought this was possible! As most of you know, I sort of fell into writing and never expected to have the response to my books that I have. Purple Roads, well, what to tell you? I’ve been writing as much as…
Thunderstorms are awesome things to watch – I love the power that comes with them, the electrifying excitement, the knowledge that there are some things that humans can’t control, that we just have roll with. They sometimes bring a great deal of rain and some times, inconvenience – or at least that’s the way we see…
It’s time to go to work. The boss has just whistled and Wally has leapt up from his sleeping position. He’s wide awake ready to do his masters bidding. Dogs are amazing creatures. Not two minutes before, Wally was sound asleep, head on his paws and even the irritating fly, which was buzzing at his…
The jonquils, this year, are just beautiful! I’ve just come in from hanging some clothes on the line and the slight breeze wafted their scent all the way over to where I was standing. What a joy something like that can bring to such a mundane task! When we first moved to this house, I…
Discarded Characters! I often wonder what happens to those brilliant characters writers create that don’t quite fit into the novel they are writing. When I was working on Lucy Springer Gets Even, I had an amazing time because so many of the characters could be drawn from real life – mothers in the school pick-up…
It’s been pretty cold here lately! And it’s school holidays. As much as the kids like to help, sometimes our jobs involve things that they just can’t do, so when we arrived at the sheep yards at 6:15am and it was bitter and frosty, the kids took exception to being involved with our farming life! (As…
On a beautiful Sunday morning the kids had the job of shifting a mob of sheep (I always go with them but hang right back or right at the front to slow the ewes down, so I’m there if they need help.) Today they took their bikes and two dogs – Rocket, the Jack Russell, a well…
I grew up with frosts covering our front lawn, frozen pipes and it being so cold in the mornings that it was 10am before our fingers and toes warmed up, but in coastal areas it’s quite unusual to have a frost. This is what we awoke to on Saturday morning! We were on our way…
In my few travels around the country and around where I live, I am always amazed at the women who do incredible things. Most of these women don’t think they’re extraordinary, but I can assure you they are. I wanted to introduce you to some of the ones I’ve met – their stories are sometimes…
Fiona and I met about two years ago. Rachael Treasure actually put us in contact! I think Fee and I were slightly over-awed that one of our favourite authors knew enough about both of us to think that we could be a good support network to each other. And I think we have been. Being…