Bestselling Australian author
So, it’s the start of a new year and a time for all sorts of resolutions that probably won’t get kept (especially those involving eating better, wasting less time on Facebook and doing my income tax in a timely fashion). However, there are resolutions that I am serious about keeping, and those are the ones…
Another year has passed – and what a great year it has been. Books, good friends, travel and more books. Thank you to all my friends and readers who have helped make this such a wonderful year. I love you all. I’ll be back in the new Year – ready to do it all again.…
So – the year is almost over. Time for one last book blog. I didn’t read as many books this year as I might have wanted. I never do. There are far too many wonderful books out there and far too little time. But here are a few of the books that just about rounded…
On a recent museum trip – I saw images from the Qajar dynasty in Persia – the period from 1795 -1925. The display focused on the women of that period. My attention was caught by description of the beautiful women of the Qajar court – paragons of beauty with a thick monobrow and moustache. Today’s women…
It’s official – Christmas has started. This week I went to my first Christmas party – and , as is almost always the case, it involved my lovely writer friends. The London RNA chapter gathered in a new venue for us – a pub just down the corner from a most famous literary location in Baker…
As part of my ongoing love affair with museums, I recently lost myself for a few hours in the fabulous Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. The building is a work of art in itself – a beautiful collection of lines and shapes and angles on the outside and modern bright spaces on…
It’s November. It’s getting cold. The sky is low and grey and yesterday we had hail. I was sitting at my desk, going through some photographs – and I stumbled across just the thing to brighten a dull day. I thought I would share. The last couple of years, we’ve escaped every summer for a…
Books aren’t like buses… they are sometimes red (not read of course – that would be a terrible pun), but they aren’t that big or noisy. Yet…. Like buses, you can wait ages for one, and then two will come at once. Not only that, they may also cause you to stop unexpectedly in your…
A few weeks ago, I was asked to judge a writing competition. I accepted because I love the chance to see new writers developing their craft – and I know how great it is to win a contest. I took the judging very seriously – because a person’s dreams should always be treated with respect.
We have a new addition to the family… a lovely guitar – but not just any old guitar. This one was custom made and is very very special. It all started when webmaster John went to a folk festival without me. (That is always a mistake, she says, smiling.) John met a man who makes…