There are some times in life when the Wheel of Fortune seems to sit you at the top for no particular reason. That was me, up the top there, in late August, at the Edinburgh Book Festival. There was nothing not to like, and everything to love: Edinburgh’s beauty; the writers’ yurt (a … Continue reading What Edinburgh Taught Me
We Are Better Than This
This blog has been dozing for a few weeks now, perhaps even months (but who’s counting?). Life for me, on the other hand, has been anything but sleepy. Writers’ festivals in Australia, one in Edinburgh, and a writer-in-residence gig in Wales have kept me on my introvert-twinkle-toes (photos to come, when I sort out the … Continue reading We Are Better Than This
Ellie
A few weeks ago, a dear friend sent me this poem. If you’ve read The Anchoress, you’ll recognise the subject. I love it! What better gift than having a poem written about one of your characters? Eleanor lives on. Ellie Sticking like a burr with grubby hands hot breath and urgent words on … Continue reading Ellie
Counting down
So, it’s now the countdown to the release of The Anchoress in the United States. What a surreal thing to write! This is the jacket. If you’ve been to my website before, you might have noticed that the original design was a swallow, but the publishers have decided to go with the profile of … Continue reading Counting down
squinting from the past
A squint seems like a funny name for a window. Apart from describing a medical condition, we use it now, mostly to suggest someone looking with their eyes partly shut, often against the sun; it’s a very common Australian characteristic. When I don’t have my glasses to read, I instinctively squint, and for some reason, … Continue reading squinting from the past
Launching
It has been a bit over five years since it all started in earnest: me sitting down each day to write, discovering characters, gradually shaping a story. I knew the thirteenth-century context, and I knew my starting point was an anchoress — a woman choosing to be enclosed in a stone cell, helped in … Continue reading Launching
