(Photo Nigerian Gems. Left, first mock up; right, the final product.) To pick up from where I left off in Tales from Lagos, the publication of Nigerian Gems had stalled. Graphic designer Els Van Limberghen volunteered to do the layout and design; we printed a copy on our home computer and painstakingly glued it together to … Continue reading Nigerian Gems – In Print At Last
When I gave up my job to become an expat spouse, I worried that I’d undermined the feminist cause. I’ve revisited this decision while writing my book series, because my protagonist, Tara Scott, struggles with the same dilemma. She wonders, “Have I betrayed feminist ideals? All those years, women fought for equal rights, and I … Continue reading Feminism and the Expat Spouse
Editing is both an art form and a numbers game. Writers are constrained by word count, so every phrase must be sharpened and polished like a jewel. My first editing job was Nigerian Gems. Since then, I’ve spent hours revising my own work, been mentored by Michele Rubin, head of Cornerstones US and had the opportunity … Continue reading My Top Four Editing Tips
(Photo : This is one of my original Lagos “blogs” (sent via email) back in 2004) The concept for Nigerian Gems, Expatriate Tales of Adventure was simple—to create a snapshot of our Lagos experience through stories, snippets and photos. Many expats had already written emails or blogs about quirky moments, outrageous anecdotes or insightful observations. … Continue reading Tales from Lagos
Something a bit different today. After I wrote about writing resources in The Adventures of Sexy Legs and Pipsqueak, I was invited to write a blog about my experiences on the Curtis Brown Creative Novel Writing Course. So, I teamed up with my Pen Pals, the marvelous Sarah Linhart and Sarah Hawthorn, and our thoughts were … Continue reading Curtis Brown Creative Guest Blog
The problem with writing a book to raise funds for a school building is not only do you have to write, edit, publish and market the book, you have to actually build the school. The entire scheme was completely nuts. But it worked. The key to our success—our secret weapon—was community. We arrived in Nigeria … Continue reading Ishahayi Beach School Foundation
Our decision to move to Nigeria (back in 2004) felt like stepping off a cliff. We wrote a pros and cons list and mulled it over ad nauseam. Many of our Melbourne friends and family were aghast, especially as Brutus and Maximus were only five and three years old. By contrast, my boss at the … Continue reading Sunrise Court
I have a whole hour before I have to pick up Son Two from school, so I set myself a bite-sized task. It’s a small, niggling job I’ve been avoiding—to choose monikers for my husband and children to protect their privacy on The Winding Narrative. Continue reading The Writer’s Hour
(Photo by Susan Bradfield Photography.) My first BFF was Sally Nicholes. We met in grade 2 at Brighton Primary School and she lived just around the corner from me. Between our houses lived Georgie, a big black brute of a dog. He was a bitza (bits of various breeds), and every little bit of him … Continue reading The Adventures of Sexy Legs and Pipsqueak
(Photo by Susan Bradfield Photography.) In 2016, I spent A Night With Christos Tsiolkas. No, not that kind of night, I didn’t even shake his hand. I watched from afar as he was interviewed about his writing journey at a Writers Victoria event. I’d read The Slap (and seen the miniseries), but when he spoke … Continue reading The Value of Failure
Brightside Story Studio 