“Whatever may be their use in civilized societies, mirrors are essential to all violent and heroic action.”
Virginia Woolf; A Room of One’s Own
A Case For Changing Australia Day
As the debate about Australia Day swings from thoughtful to banal, and from compassionate to cruel, I'm moved to share this poignant reflection by my step-daughter-in-law, Meena Singh, Associate Director of Aboriginal Services, Victoria Legal Aid. She says: "As 26...
read moreBest Wishes for a Brave New Year
Happy New Year, dear readers, and apologies for disappearing from the blogosphere for the past six weeks. Sincere thanks to those of you who expressed concern about my abrupt departure, and for your emails and interest. Fortunately, I've not succumbed to a dire...
read moreBarney Poodle For President
He may have left his run a little late but, in these troubled times, why not consider Barney Poodle for President? I've been writing away at Varuna in the Blue Mountains for the past week and if you're reading this on Sunday morning, I'll be shortly packing up to...
read moreTaboo, Or Not Taboo, That Is The Question
Incest is an uncomfortable topic to discuss. My novella, 'The Last Taboo: A Love Story', which was published this week in Griffith Review's Earthly Delights Edition 54, is about genetic sexual attraction between a mother and son who are separated at birth and reunited...
read moreHappy Birthday To My Beloved Grandson
Today my grandson turns twelve. He was born at two o'clock in the morning on this day in 2004. I held him in my arms barely two hours after he took his first breath. Today, I choose to believe that he absorbed the love that flowed from every pore of my being into his...
read morePossessed By Possessions, Or Not?
What precious possessions would you choose to take with you if you had to flee a house fire? My mother was a child of the 1930's Depression. Later, as an adult, she lost everything in a house fire except the clothes she was wearing at the time. Perhaps not...
read moreIn The Skin Of Others
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” Harper Lee, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' I thought of Atticus Finch this week when I came upon a friend throwing...
read moreFoxgloves & The Forensic Edit
My neighbour's foxgloves are late blooming this Spring. 'I don't think they're going to flower at all,' she told me two weeks ago. She was seriously thinking of pulling them out: I cautioned her to wait. Look at them now; a cascade of bells on long-reaching...
read moreHillary, Julia and Trump the Clown
I didn't watch the debate. I'm too much of a coward. I couldn't bear to see Hillary humiliated and abused by Trump the Clown. Later, I saw news clips that suggested she'd won hands down and I was hugely relieved because she’s obviously the only safe...
read moreAre You A Planner Or A Pantser?
How do you write? Are you a planner or pantser? Do you draw up a plan and follow it meticulously? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants, let the words tumble out willy-nilly and then select, order, structure and rewrite? Perhaps you do a little of both? Most writers...
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