A client for my ghostwriting and editing services—I shall call him Rocky—once asked me what essential things a writer must do to lay the foundations for a writing career. He wasn’t asking about the writing itself, he explained, but about … Continue reading
Let me start off with today having been the coldest May day in a half century in the same part of Australia that had the worst fires. If I walk out onto the road and look south, I can see … Continue reading
From small things do bigger things grow — cubs into lions, acorns into oaks, ideas into stories and then collections of stories and then worlds. Some time ago a friend tossed me an idea “challenge” — a story about a … Continue reading
We were all so sane and calm and efficient until now. An exemplary people doing amazing things in a terribly trying time. My friend Conor, who visited his parents for Christmas and spent the early part of the year defending … Continue reading
We’re used to impossible adjectives right now in Australia. We think we will get used to what’s happening, but we never do. It’s all personal and it’s all much bigger than any news report has been willing to show. Let … Continue reading
There are some very big subjects that our lives centre around right now in Australia. I don’t want to talk about them. They’re full of difficulty and emotion and… it’s exhausting even thinking about them, to be honest. I can’t … Continue reading
Australian author Michael Pryor said the other day on Twitter, “You know what makes me smile even though I know it’s silly? It’s reading a UK or US book and there’s a passing mention of Australia, or a minor character … Continue reading
This weekend is the Labour Day long weekend in several states of Australia and in the Australian Capital Territory. This means that, for me, it’s the weekend of the Conflux science fiction weekend. It’s also a big weekend for tourists … Continue reading
Summer’s almost here officially, and there are many wonderful books to choose from. Here are a few I’ve enjoyed recently: First I must offer an explanation of why it took me so long to review this book, which entails a … Continue reading
I promised that I would answer questions about Australia and this puts me in the difficult position of explaining last weekend’s election result. There are so many factors, and they’re not all clear yet, so consider this a beginning rather … Continue reading
