As you can see my white boards are beginning to fill up with ideas, character descriptions and a few other things. I don’t always use everything that goes up on these boards, and there’s nothing plotted here, only a place to throw ideas and thoughts at. I’ve been troubling over how to start Book…
Last week I wrote about a needing to write two books at at time to make my deadlines. I was getting involved with NaNoWriMo to help do this. Deciding to spend one week on each book, would mean I should get about 25k into each book by the end of November. Best laid plans…
Well it’s November and November can be an important month in writer-world. November means NaNoWriMo. What does that mean, you might ask? Well, it means National Novel Writing Month. And today, I’ve just formatted my new file to start book 20, so I can join in. During NaNoWriMo, you’re supposed to write about 50,000…
Now onto other projects… Well, I’ve got a few deadlines in 2022. 1st March, 30th of June and the 1st of September. So three books next year. I love it when I get to clean off these white boards and start on another book. As much as I find the writing process hard,…
I watched with annoyance, the ABC’s 4 Corners report on glyphosate and it’s ‘carcinogenic causing’ qualities, then with amusement when the 7.30 report started their series on Australia, how big is too big? According to the 7.30 Report, there is ‘national anxiety’ about the population of Australia; how we’re going to feed and water ourselves,…
There is a Facebook photo with a picture of a strawberry saying: ‘cut ‘em up, don’t throw ‘em out. Please continue to support Aussie Farmers through berry tough times.’ What a great campaign created through horrible circumstances. I wonder what makes someone or some people want to bring an industry to its knees? What…
What a difference a year makes. This time in 2015, my daughter and I were hanging out in Melbs waiting for the last concert in the Taylor Swift 1989 World Tour. Do you know it feels like a life time ago, yet I can remember everything so clearly. It had been a fairly tough year,…
The last couple of days have included a few strange ways of getting around the place! Normally I drive a very nice Nissan Patrol Wagon – very comfortable, fuel efficient and very ‘normal’. My friend, however, has a new, fun type car. Can you guess what ‘breed’ it is from this pic? Yesterday was a…
Don’t these clouds look like fire works gone wrong? Actually I can’t say that, because in all the fireworks I’ve seen, I wouldn’t have a clue if they’d gone wrong or not! Anyhow, when I looked up at these, that was the first thing I thought of. I was staying with a friend, on a…
Last Christmas, I had my first Christmas back on ‘home soil’ in more than 18 years. My husband took me ‘back home’ as a thank you for caring for his mum. I guess I should explain that, for farmers in Australia, Christmas is held at the wrong time of the year! It’s really difficult for…
View from the top of the header We’re still harvesting. This must be one of the most frustrating harvests we’ve had in years! The wind has howled from the east – cool, moist gale-forced winds, which doesn’t let the moisture come down in the grain enough, so we can get it into the silos. A…
Harvest is always looked forward to with a mixture of anticipation and dread – well it is by me anyway. Anticipation because it’s our money making time. We get to see what we’ve achieved over the year, reward for the hard work, so on and so forth. Dread, because it’s dry and hot. Long hours…
Some times there is nothing more I love than editing. After all, the hard work has been done, hasn’t it? The words are on the page and all I have to do is rearrange them, or make them better. Yes? *cough, cough* Perhaps there is a little more to do than that. Some times there…
It’s time for itchy eyes, ears and throats. Time for burning diesel and driving tractors. Time for all hands on deck. We grow pasture hay, for our animals. In a year like this; as wet as it’s been, the pastures have gone ballistic! We’ve had clover/ryegrass pastures half way between our ankle and knee! Can’t…
Harvest! The very word seems to bring out the feral in every man, woman and child, involved in cropping. It also seems to be the time for Murphy, from Murphy’s Law to rear his ugly head. Here are a few examples. Upon jumping in the new (second hand) header, we bought this year, the Boss…
The farm is well and truly looking like it’s summer, even though we’re only in mid-October! Some paddocks have a gold/white tinge across the tops of the plants, indicating it’s done its time. Saturday was a warm 35 degrees, so the crops won’t take long to turn, ripen and harvest will be started before we…
This time of the year is when the craziness starts. The moment we cut the pastures or oats, to make hay, it’s like some gremlin inhabits the farm and makes everyone mad. To get really good quality hay, it’s best if it doesn’t get a rain on it, before it’s in bales. The Boss is…
It true. From little things, big things grow. And when it comes to cropping, Canola is a great example. It’s starts off as a tiny black seed – smaller than a grain of sea salt and just slightly larger than a ‘hundred and thousand’ (you know what I’m meaning? The things kids love to…
It has been so long since I’ve posted a blog and I really must apologise! I don’t think I’ve ever been quite as busy and that is really saying something. Silver Gums is due at the publishers in exactly 29 days. I’m still putting the finishing touches to it, so I have been head…
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…
