Wisdom comes with winters. — Oscar Wilde I am not immune to the seasons. In fact I’m rather like a farmer, or a flower bulb or a migrating bird in that I respond to the change in light, temperature and the axial tilt of the earth. I love the long warm days of summer and the beach is my home where the sea draws me in on those impossibly hot days of the mid-season. I wait for the southerly breeze that brings the temperature down enough on those heat fill days to barbeque ten

I’m not sure if I’m alone in the writing world where I have piles of notebooks. I think I could be a hoarder but I prefer the term collector or curator. I’m attracted to notebooks in the way some might find themselves drawn to bakery items, or shoes, cars, perfume and a myriad of other attractions. Or distractions! I was the sort of kid who loved the beginning of the school year so I could cover and label my pristine class books. If truth be told I felt the same way as a teac

Well the New Year came and went and I waited for the moment, the inspiration, the sense of hope to descend in order to make some kind of yearly plan (I hesitate to use the word resolution). But as January faded to February I find myself still waiting. Perhaps my head and heart were relying heavily on Chinese New Year which happens to be February 16 th . It gives me a few more days of thinking! While I’m not a resolution making kind of person I do like to set out a type of ‘wi

Now I’m fully aware that you might be thinking that I’ve taken up where Lewis Carroll left off with this title. Or perhaps you could imagine that I’m pitching an idea for a sci-fi film. Alas, neither is true. It simply is, as stated, a warning. We are surrounded by the philodoxical pontificators who are for the most part, if not a danger to our society, they are the destroyers of our inner peace. Definition: a philodox is one who has an excessive and dogmatic love of their ow

I’ve just arrived home after 3 and half weeks in Japan. Of course I’m a little weary, and the customary travel sneeze/cough/sore throat thing has happened. I had the typical ‘Australian returns home’ breakfast of toast and vegemite (to be truthful it was Promite…judge away readers.) And then settled in to several loads of washing, divesting the suitcase of the weirdly wondrous things I decided might just come in handy (house slippers to fit any size foot and a myriad of hotel

Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of their life, every quality of their mind, is written large in their works. Virginia Woolf Writers are frequently asked about why they write? And where do the ideas come from? Profound, and deeply philosophical writers will give exquisite answers to both questions. See the Virginia Woolf quote above. I’m neither particularly profound nor philosophical so I can only answer from my heart. You see, I’ve alwa

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Be yourself, everyone else is taken. Oscar Wilde Who am I? Who are you? Pretty simple questions really but...

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As the shadows lengthen and the sun sinks below the horizon we find ourselves in the last light of day. It is a time for reflection,...

For Pat x I have an uncomfortable relationship with death. I write about it quite a lot in the Lily series. It’s hard to write about...

Melbourne I have always loved Melbourne. I suspect it is partially due to growing up in Tasmania and seeing her as the mecca of the...

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The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination, and brings eternal joy to the soul. Robert Wyland...

No doubt we are all familiar with our dear friend procrastination. It is the method by which we avoid all things we don’t want to face....

Just so we are clear…I don’t do New Year resolutions. Generally, because I rarely mean them. I find resolving to be...

Christmas 2024. I’m not sure about Christmas. I know there is an unwritten scale that extends from the super tinsel celebrators to the...