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
There was The Wolf of Wall Street, A Nightmare on Elm Street and a Miracle on 42nd Street. Even Desperate Housewives had Wisteria Lane. Not me, I gave my first novel the woebegone title 29 Brown Street. The book explored the impact of place—a specific address—on the central characters … Set in Melbourne, Australia, in 2002, 29 … Continue reading 29 Brown St
Brightside Story Studio 