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Happy Christmas and congratulations for surviving 2020.  This has been a unique year with so many struggles for so many people.  In fact I’m sure there isn’t a person in the world that hasn’t been affected by COVID in some way. Here in Melbourne we are still remembering the devastating bush fires that were raging at this time last year. The fires gobbled up many homes and there are people still waiting to get into their new homes. People died too. With all this in mind have the very best Christmas that you can.  Don’t worry about all that plastic…

Life is always interesting on this tram route – never dull moment as they say…   Last week when I was traveling  from South Yarra to Prahran on the 78 tram the only free seat was opposite a dark skinned older man.  He had a swollen eye but it didn’t look like a the result of a punch up.  It looked more as if it was suppose to be that way.  He sat very still and stared straight ahead.  I gazed passed him and out the window.  No eye contact is my go to position on this tram. Two impeccably…

The lockdown door has opened a crack with more light coming through on November 1st.  With this new life seeping towards us we have another Melbourne spring-style day. Cold wind and now in the late afternoon the sun is out and the wind lessened. To Celebrate I have poured a gin and tonic in one of the beautiful glasses I inherited from my mum.  The gin turned up when I was cleaning out a cupboard.  Not much left which is perhaps why I forgot about it but enough to celebrate.  The crystal is sparkling in the sun and the slice…

Hi there This is a quick update of my progress with the Onlinebookclub. A couple of posts ago I complained that although I’d signed up and paid my money with a promotion that said they would buy a book and it hadn’t happened.  In fact nothing had happened. I have to give them their due they have now bought a kindle copy. I have had some email correspondence with a real person – a lovely lady called Sarah. No reviews yet. I’m not sure what I paid for because it looks as if I have to pay more if I…

  This is my self-published book – I’m so pleased with the cover. Here’s the link to Amazon I want to shout to the world, ‘READ IT. READ IT! BE ENTERTAINED!!’ Problem – How to market a self-published book I don’t expect everyone to like it but I would love to think that everyone who reads English will give it a go! One of the hardest things for self-publishers is getting their book noticed.  It is harder than writing it, than having it edited and working on the advice and criticism that follows. Harder than the whole writing process. Harder…

This is an amazing time in Australia.  It is a time where the country pulled together, cared for each other, looked out for each other and followed the rules. By doing this we have stopped COVID – 19 in its tracks. Not conquered yet but certainly halted it.  We believed all  lives mattered in this wonderful multi-cultural nation of ours. Watching the weekend marches you could be led to believe that ‘Only Black Lives Matter’. Of course Black Lives matter and all of us whatever race we belong to are horrified by the actions of the police officers in Minneapolis.…

I wrote this piece about the magpies in my area during COVID-19.  I also mention them here. This piece is for your enjoyment:- it is part of my ‘Love Writing Collection’ Life with the Magpies In my post code it is the year of the magpie. There are magpies everywhere. Yelling, chortling, and talking loudly amongst themselves. They do this at full volume. I’ve yet to see a magpie whispering to a mate. My favourite park is full of them and until the lockdown they marched around the children’s play area lording it over everyone and pretending they’re in control.  …

I’m giving away 10 copies of my book Mayhem in Melbourne… read further to find out how you can score one. At the moment, locked up as we are, I’m reading book after book.  It is so relaxing.  It takes me from this fraught and stressed existence to another world.  I have just finished reading a Donna Leon Mystery, The Girl of His Dreams. It has taken me to Venice and the world of Commissario Guido Brunetti.  It is giving me an interest in today’s Venice without the crowds of tourist he is describes as he walks around the city…

Last time I posted on this blog I talked about my writers’ block. I was suffering and feeling inadequate and somewhat miserable. The Internet is full of cures but I have found my own cure by chance. It may help you if you ever find yourself in the same state.  It is not a happy state.  Writers write I kept telling myself that. It did no good something was stopping me writing. Check out the book I have written here   My cure and I’m sure my writers’ Block is cured.   Walking! Instead of sitting at home and gazing at…

Hi there, This is a post with apologies. My aim is to post once a week yet the last couple of weeks have seen nothing from me. Why can’t I write?  Now my book is published I find myself word-tied. It’s as if words are NOT one the things I enjoy most in life. It’s as if one my greatest pleasures that of  playing with words and working out the best way to write something has gone. The challenged to make something funny or gripping or just plain interesting has disappeared. It  this Writers Bloc? It that what I have?…