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
the open heart
One of my favourite poems is ee cummings’ may my heart always be open to little may my heart always be open to little birds who are the secrets of living whatever they sing is better than to know and if men should not hear them men are old may my mind stroll about hungry … Continue reading the open heart
The cell: real and imagined
He closed the heavy wooden door behind him. Five of us were now shut in this small room about ten paces from end to end, and even fewer across. It was late afternoon in early spring; some sun came through the leadlight windows and candles were burning, but we were glad to have the lights … Continue reading The cell: real and imagined
