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My Authorial Writing Tools
The heading looks impressive, don’t you think? Love that word…Authorial. It’s been a little while since my last blog post, of any description, so I thought I’d talk about what tools I am using to write my novel. Pen and Paper When I attended the Sydney Writers Festival recently, I took with me a notepad
The Emotion Thesaurus – Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglist
This is my writing bible, well, one of them. The Blurb One of the biggest struggles for writers is how to convey emotion to readers in a unique and compelling way. When showing our characters’ feelings, we often use the first idea that comes to mind, and they end up smiling, nodding, and frowning too
Power and Majesty – Tansy Rayner Roberts
Once again I am late on the uptake. Let me explain… I purchased Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when every one else was lining up at my local Dymocks store to purchase the second instalment of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter. I started reading Terry Pratchett in 2010 when I read in the local press
The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village – Joanna Nell
Loved it.This book rang true for me. Peggy and her daughter reminded me of a friend of mine and her mother, who happens to be the same age as Peggy and also lives in a retirement village. A mother wanting her own independence. Adult children caring about their mother’s welfare.And doesn’t it create a storm
The Magician’s Guild – Trudi Canavan
The Magician’s Guild, by Trudi Canavan, is the first book of the Black Magician Trilogy. I loved it. A young girl, Sonea, is caught up in a protest with her friends against the despised Magician’s Guild and casts a stone, breaking through the magician’s protective shield, shocking herself and the Magicians. That one action brings
It’s all about Attitude
The other day, a thought occurred as I walked to work: achieving anything in life has a lot to do with your attitude. Twelve months ago today, March 11, 2020, the WHO (World Health Organisation, not the band) declared we were, in fact, in a worldwide pandemic. My life changed as it did for many
The Widow of Ballarat – Darry Fraser
Part of the blurb from the book: “When Nell Amberton’s husband is shot dead by a bushranger, there are few who grieve his passing, and Nell least of all. How could she miss the monster who had abused her from the day they wed – the man who had already killed his innocent first wife?
The Hush – Skye Melki-Wegner
My daughter bought me a Kindle for my recent birthday and wished to add a book. ‘Something by an Australian female writer, please.’ My daughter and I have similar tastes in books and as usual, I was not disappointed. The Hush… Chester is on the road, traveling from town to town, in search of his
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams
It is often said, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. I must confess. I was drawn to this book because of its cover, and I am pleased to say, while I found the first few chapters of the story a little slow, the book as a whole did not disappoint. The Dictionary of Lost
2020 – Oh, What a Year!
We’re now well and truly into 2021; January has flown by. It’s time to reflect upon 2020… oh, what a year! A year of firsts… I declared to my world at the beginning of last year, 2020 was going to be the year of firsts. I’m happy to say, I achieved what I set out
Take a photo with your iPhone; The Shooting Modes Edition, Part 2 – Live Mode
As I mentioned in Part 1 of the Shooting Modes Edition, I intended to write a post about all the photo-taking modes available on the iPhone. It turned out to be a novella-size post, so I thought it best to focus on them one at a time. So here we are in Part 2: Live
Take a photo with your iPhone; The Shooting Modes Edition, Part 1 – Portrait
When the makers of the mobile phones came up with the idea of including a camera, I wonder if they dreamed how fast the idea would take off. …the most convenient camera you could ever own. I’m pretty sure they thought it was ingenious, otherwise they wouldn’t have included it. But did they realise how