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About Counterculture Blues: a fable

I first attempted to write about life on the poverty line in 1995 but I discovered, after writing about 50,000 words, that because there was so much hardship in the material I was covering, the work was looking very bleak and unattractive, so I put it aside.           Early in 2001, I conceived the idea of writing a novel using the same plot and characters as in the 1995 manuscript, but making…

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A new Cover for Dropping Out

New Cover: Way back in 2016, I decided to put my short stories together in a collection. There are sixteen of them, written over a period of twenty-five years. As a single parent, I’d chased the money in competitions and high paying publications. And, sometimes, I’d been lucky. I didn’t have much in the way of moolah when I decided to publish the collection, but I’d found an image on Wikipedia…

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A Welcome Christmas Present for a Writer

Last year, I received a great Christmas present when Kirkus Indie Reviews gave a Starred Review to my latest novel Those Brisbane Romantics. That was nice. And very unexpected. Only 10% of books re…

Just lucky, I guess.

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A Welcome Christmas Present for a Writer

Just plain lucky, I guess.

Last year, I received a great Christmas present when Kirkus Indie Reviews gave a Starred Review to my latest novel Those Brisbane Romantics. That was nice. And very unexpected. Only 10% of books reviewed by Kirkus ever receive a Starred Review, and they review thousands annually. Besides, Those Brisbane Romantics is a very Australian novel, and Kirkus Reviews is a US reviewer, possibly the…

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A ghost story

A ghost story.

When I was young, I didn’t believe in ghosts. I’d gotten to 27 without ever encountering one, and that was just fine with me. From all the tales I’d read, even if one did appear – and appear seemed to be the main element in the thing: they appeared – they never seemed to tell anyone anything of importance. So when I went to stay with my favourite aunt in Toowoomba, I didn’t give any thought to…

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I saw this photo some years ago. The caption underneath read: George was 22 when he started writing his novel. The implication was that he was still writing it. I could relate to that. I was still …

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The Long and Winding Road to Those Brisbane Romantics - Genesis

The Long and Winding Road to Those Brisbane Romantics – Genesis

I saw this photo some years ago. The caption underneath read: George was 22 when he started writing his novel. The implication was that he was still writing it. I could relate to that. I was still writing Those Brisbane Romantics fifty years later. On and off, admittedly, but still writing it. I wrote the 1st draft in 1963-5. In 1967, this was placed 2nd to published author Hugh Atkinson’s…

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Old Family Photos

The last items I unpacked after the move from Byron were the family photos, some of which I knew had broken glass. It was no surprise, I suppose, that I didn’t get around to them until now. The glass in a couple had been broken for years, but I’d lacked the motivation to open the bag, let alone do anything about it.

Having unpacked everything else and feeling particularly strong one day, I…

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The move from Byron Shire, New South Wales, to New Farm, Queensland

The move from Byron Shire, New South Wales, to New Farm, Queensland

The move from Byron Shire to Brisbane was a horrendous affair.

I had lived in the shire for forty years, twenty years in the same apartment. The only way I could get out of there was to have the movers pack for me. Unfortunately, these local movers did not unpack at the other end, and so I arrived with a two-bedroom house’s worth full of furniture and twenty-three tea chests.

What I did not…

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You've Got to Be Crazy OR Why Leave Byron Shire for Brisbane?

You’ve Got to Be Crazy OR Why Leave Byron Shire for Brisbane?

Why move from this:

to this:

  When I was a kid, I lived in Toowong, a suburb of Brisbane that bordered the base of Mt Coot-tha. At that time, the mountain was covered in trees and undergrowth, but I was determined to find a track through the bush to the top. (There was a narrow road to the top, to a small kiosk that sold Devonshire Teas and ice cream, but who wants a road when they’re an…

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STOP PRESS on Jack the Cat Looking for a Home

STOP PRESS on Jack the Cat Looking for a Home

This is the latest on Jack, whom my friend Sandy could not take with her when she had to move to Woollongong because of ill health.

Jack’s finally going to his new home! I got an email this morning from the big hearted Bailey at the Cat Refuge in Billinudgel this morning. It read:

Hi Dani,

Jack went to his new home yesterday where a 9 year old terrier was waiting for him as he had recently lost…

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Brush Turkeys Reign supreme on the Far North Coast

Brush Turkeys Reign supreme on the Far North Coast

When I first came to the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, brush turnkeys were not protected. Consequently, a sighting of them was a rare thing. Sometimes as we were driving along we’d see one making its way stealthily through the bush. The kids would be excited. “Look, a brush turkey!” Now, with the advent of their protection, all that has changed. Today they stride confidently around the…

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Another Way to Write Your Memoir

Another Way to Write Your Memoir

Many’s the person who’s thought to themselves, “I’ve had an interesting life. I should write my memoir.” And they’re right: there’s a book in every one of us, whether we’ve lived what to the ordinary world would seem an interesting life or not. As the famous psychiatrist Carl Jung said in his book Memories, Dreams and Reflections, “My life has been singularly devoid of outward happenings.” Yes,…

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Hoping for a Home for Jack

Hoping for a Home for Jack

Does anyone out there know of a kind person who could give a good home to Jack, a four-year-old, neutered, part-eastern cat who’s currently residing in the Cat Protection Home in Billnudgel.

Jack

(If you think he’s looking a bit wild-eyed in the photo, it’s because he’s never been in a cage before.)

Jack’s tale is a sorry one. He was living a gung ho life quite happily with a girlfriend of mine…

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Far North Coast of NSW Floods

Far North Coast of NSW Floods

Here in South Golden Beach, just a few miles from the Tweed-Byron border, we’re having an easy time of it. There’s water in the streets, and people are boating up and down the lower end of my street, the end closest to the canal, but up on the higher end, we’re warm and dry. The water hasn’t even risen up the driveway and the biggest problem we have to face is that the rubbish trucks didn’t come…

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Using Commas with As, Since and While

Using Commas with As, Since and While

This is actually very easy, but people often get it wrong.

Most people whack in a comma at the end of all opening clauses that contain a verb. In Australia, at least, this is not the right way to go about things. Sometimes clauses take a comma; sometimes they don’t.

If you’re Australian and you want your editing to be above reproach, read on. It isn’t hard to get your head around. There’s…

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Producing a Print Book's a Hard Journey

Producing a Print Book’s a Hard Journey

Some time ago, I investigated Indie publishing, particularly the publishing of Print on Demand (POD) books with CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon. This investigation and my own experiences with it were most illuminating, and I thought I might share my discoveries with you on this site.

If you’ve already published a POD book, stop reading now, I won’t have anything new to tell you. If you…

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