THE CURE FOR ISOLATION IS CONNECTION!

A long time ago, when I first started writing and this website, blogs were a big thing. I'd pop in here and tell you all about my day, and hopefully you'd leave me a comment and tell me about yours.

There is nothing like the word Haighs for giving a person away as a South Australian!

‘What is Haighs?’ as a friend asked the other day. What?! Only the best chocolate in the world! Better than Swiss, better than (sorry to all native Western Australians!) The Margs Chocolate Factory (only marginally, though) and certainly better than Hershey’s, even though the Americans claim otherwise.

Yesterday, my son turned 21! Yes, 21! And I made a mistake. Every April book usually comes out on his birthday, and for some reason, I thought this year's was the same. So I thought Hayden's birthday was today, rather than yesterday. Good thing I worked out on Sunday, that wasn't the case!

It was lockdown and lockout. The WA government had told me I couldn’t visit my parents in South Australia because the borders were remaining shut for the foreseeable future. I would normally head to their place in the Flinders Ranges for a break.

Last year, I made a decision that I wanted to go camping a lot more than I had been. When I was a kid, our family used to camp a lot; we saw some amazing and wild parts of Australia, places I'll never forget. So with all that in mind, I bought this little ripper (which is now called Dusty Rose, after all of your input! I also call it the office) and started to plan a route up in the north of WA.

Did you spend much time in your library as a kid? Do you still now?

I loved our little library at the Orroroo Area School when I was a kid; if I lived in Orroroo, I'd still love it. I remember our library being full of fun things like beanbags so we could snuggle in and read, tapes and games.

Writing is a mysterious business. It's a lot of smoke and mirrors; living with imaginary people, crazy Google searches and staying in my head a lot. My imaginary friends talk loudly to me sometimes and too quietly for me to hear at others.

Ah, how much love do we have for Detective Dave Burrows? Well, I for one, have a lot! And obviously you guys do too, because we’re here publishing the 5th in the Detective Dave Burrows series in nine weeks, this baby is going to be on the shelf.

Here we are on the 4th of January. It’s only going be what feels like a few days time we all say: ‘wow, it’s December already, where has the year gone?!’

Anyway, I wanted to start the new year with a bit of a ditty on me for all the new people who have recently discovered my books; I’ve had a few people who have got in contact over Christmas and said they’ve read my books for the first time. I LOVE hearing this!

A new rose for a new year. Gorgeous, isn't it? I'm not sure what rose this is - I think it might be Peace, which, if so, is the perfect rose for me coming into 2022. What about you?

I'm not one for maths. Which makes writing a really good profession for me! And, you would think there isn't any maths at all, tapping out words on a keyboard. But this is a myth! I've been told a few times that the only way to make good decisions is to base it around facts.

Don’t be silent when you see violence.

The headline of the State Government’s 16 Days in WA campaign to prevent domestic and family violence is a reminder that we all have a role to play in calling out violence in our community, including our regional communities.

As you can see, my whiteboards are beginning to fill up with ideas, character descriptions and a few other things.

You know that horrible sinking feeling when you go to a place in a car park, thinking your car is going to be there, and it's not? It’s a damn horrible feeling, huh?

Last week, I wrote about needing to write two books at a time to make my deadlines. I was getting involved with NaNoWriMo to help do this.

I wonder if you've ever heard of a little town called Orroroo? It's at the base of the Flinders Ranges, a tiny blip of a gorgeous town, the main street an eclectic mix of old and new and on the main drag between Perth and Sydney.

I’m often asked what it takes to write a book. Having finished my 19th novel about twelve hours ago, I reflected on the question, whilst sitting on the patio with a wine, screaming: ‘thank god that’s done!’.

So, I compiled a list.