tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20012423494703002482024-03-13T18:22:04.817+00:00Lindsay BamfieldLindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-56198978994200206822023-12-20T03:44:00.003+00:002023-12-20T04:25:42.619+00:00This year's favourite books. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhK149Qn9PMio39i4YKiOqGTGQDeg-qiggClssQKE8LYsLU7FGJLpz0dAMkx6LitXAqnqwOXmXi8hlUNlNmmBYuat20JBlAV35LBNTBmpLdXKGIQzXAZ3BeB7dPcPEs3freg7DKb-4eBO-J4ex_mJjmHnYsPXWt5pCaosDNSFA6U7pioJq2T6mHlwAQxX/s3820/20231220_140250.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3820" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhK149Qn9PMio39i4YKiOqGTGQDeg-qiggClssQKE8LYsLU7FGJLpz0dAMkx6LitXAqnqwOXmXi8hlUNlNmmBYuat20JBlAV35LBNTBmpLdXKGIQzXAZ3BeB7dPcPEs3freg7DKb-4eBO-J4ex_mJjmHnYsPXWt5pCaosDNSFA6U7pioJq2T6mHlwAQxX/s320/20231220_140250.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><span>The end of year book lists are ubiquitous - I often wonder whether those by literary figures really do feature the books they liked the most or ones they want the public to think they liked the most because their lists always feature books that have won lots of acclaim. But many good books don't get much of a look in!</span><p></p><p><span>My year's reading has been good - I've read 61 books<br />with only one prize-winning novel abandoned as I couldn't stand the characters. This has been my reason for giving up on several books - they've been well-written and have often won prizes or the acclaim I mentioned above but the characters are just so annoying I don't care what happens to them. </span></p><p><span>I'm perfectly able to like books with irritating or unlikable characters because something else is at stake and that keeps me reading. Just like life, sometimes we bear with people who annoy us because there is a reason to persist but if there is no upside why keep them in your life? </span></p><p><span>Anyway here is my list and because I don't mind if people don't consider me a literary force, I have chosen the books I enjoyed the most - not all from this year - and yes, some are those major prize winners! Of course there are loads of excellent books that I haven't read yet (some of which, I'm sure, are on my TBR pile.)</span></p><p><span>Thanks to library loans, community book shelves, gifts and purchases, here is my top ten in no particular order.:</span></p><p><span>Shankari Chandran: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (independent bookshop purchase)</span></p><p><span>Vicki Petratis: The Unbelieved (bought at author event)</span></p><p><span>Bonnie Garmus: Lessons In Chemistry (online purchase)</span></p><p><span>Barbara Kingsolver: Demon Copperhead (independent bookshop purchase)</span></p><p><span>Celeste Ng: Our Missing Hearts (library loan)</span></p><p><span>Toni Jordan: Prettier if She Smiled More (chain bookshop purchase)</span></p><p><span>Lisa Genova: Left Neglected (op shop purchase)</span></p><p><span>Pip Williams: The Bookbinder of Jericho (chain bookshop purchase)</span></p><p><span>Christian White: The Nowhere Child (gift)</span></p><p><span>Kerryn Mayne: Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder (library loan)</span></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-84236517874980187202023-11-26T06:59:00.001+00:002024-01-01T10:07:47.055+00:00In Praise of Postcards<p>My mother had an extensive collection of 'tourist' postcards stuck on one wall of her kitchen - with five children and eight grandchildren who all travelled it was a worthy collection boasting pictures from numerous countries as well as UK. </p><p>When she left her flat for a residential home many of our postcards were returned to us if we wanted them so I have my cards from Mongolia and Timbuktu among others. </p><p>I always liked receiving postcards from friends and family on holiday and I used many cards of iconic views in my speech therapy work with people with aphasia making interesting naming activities and stimulating conversation. </p><p>I recall a collection of old postcards in the attic of the farmhouse where I grew up mostly addressed to the previous resident before her marriage. The messages weren't from holiday makers but were used as a quick way of sending notes in the pre-telephone era when there were up to four deliveries a day including an evening delivery. A local card could be posted and delivered on the same day. One of my sisters rescued some of them and the messages are a mixture of banal and intriguing. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dMD3GhUQjQ8GLxTk8QcvPPwXdvWT7npl5aJvck7O7qeqy5BrjLWsacakzwav8h0nHRq_HlIvdFfOW7zG7o93CpuEeq6m3JBG7QBvQCXebQ-Ulgl0abyvNamYDS-4LLn_fHTr92FyN7hmqsMgvZbYAO9RWaVhsCVNDHk91rmyhzjDpD4asvJfK-wnlRKI/s4000/20230704_162846.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dMD3GhUQjQ8GLxTk8QcvPPwXdvWT7npl5aJvck7O7qeqy5BrjLWsacakzwav8h0nHRq_HlIvdFfOW7zG7o93CpuEeq6m3JBG7QBvQCXebQ-Ulgl0abyvNamYDS-4LLn_fHTr92FyN7hmqsMgvZbYAO9RWaVhsCVNDHk91rmyhzjDpD4asvJfK-wnlRKI/w200-h150/20230704_162846.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTX3yQ8w3FirRae8WljcJwFbPDFtAEB8CND57mKY6lkjp5Vyc_3KtHAmE7lB2Ptl4jwuw2FLfh1XNzAyPUXzwZqSRbUfMWm9_7KvDTzVdiiqTDDigOTFS4i-s2InPJkv2ew6zDBXAjaFgfXWOjBt-IXLed6ntPZCl13h5b5CpKwANznofoz7PiJhyEnIJb/s4000/20230704_162814.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTX3yQ8w3FirRae8WljcJwFbPDFtAEB8CND57mKY6lkjp5Vyc_3KtHAmE7lB2Ptl4jwuw2FLfh1XNzAyPUXzwZqSRbUfMWm9_7KvDTzVdiiqTDDigOTFS4i-s2InPJkv2ew6zDBXAjaFgfXWOjBt-IXLed6ntPZCl13h5b5CpKwANznofoz7PiJhyEnIJb/w200-h150/20230704_162814.jpg" width="200" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;">This one dated 15th November 1914, says "<i>This is some of the wounded I saw at Southend, Our Police </i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Court Case came off this week. I am so glad it is over, although it is always in my thoughts. 20 months hard labour for each. Much love, Ida." </i>One can only wonder<i>.</i></span></div><p>Another of my postcard collections is my art cards. A regular visitor to art galleries since my teens I always purchase a few of my favorite or particularly interesting pictures and some I have received from friends. One such card of a Waterhouse simply reads, 'We must do this again, J.' To my shame I have no recollection of J or indeed what we did or whether we ever did it again! Perhaps it was a visit to the Tate but I really don't recall visiting with a J. (I do recall visiting with a witty R and a rather tedious R and an M who kept making stupid comments which I was only able to turn off by visiting the cafe like the French and Saunders sketch.)</p><p>My travel card collection hasn't grown lately as people don't seem to send cards from their travels any more and many aren't travelling so much nowadays so receiving cards is infrequent - or was until I discovered <a href="https://www.postcrossing.com/">PostCrossing</a> </p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This world-wide organization allows you to sign up with your address and a few
details about yourself including languages in which you can communicate. You
are assigned a person to whom you send a card. When it is received and
registered on the site your name will be assigned to someone so for every card
you send, you receive one. Over 74 million cards have been sent through the
scheme.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This is a world-wide scheme but you are limited by language – English is of
course a world language which is an advantage. Cost is something to bear in mind. Some PostCrossers have sent thousands of
cards – perhaps their postage is cheaper or they think of it as a hobby worth
the cost.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So far, I’ve
sent and or received cards from 33 countries. One to USA, one to Slovakia and one to Thailand have gone
astray but sometimes they do turn up
eventually. I received one from China that took 84 days and one I sent to China arrived after 111 days. I wonder where the missing cards are lurking!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">On my profile I mentioned liking art cards and several of those sent to me are cards of artworks, some of which I knew while others have added to my education.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Further reading:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Two books detailing postcards dating from around 1911 and the stories behind them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.helenbaggott.co.uk/stourcastle.html">Posted on the Past & Second Delivery</a> by Helen Bagott. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A book about the history of postcard published in USA: </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo130703260.html">Postcards The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Social Network by Lydia Pyne</a></span><a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo130703260.html">l</a></p><p></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-85181134325480046652023-09-24T11:10:00.001+01:002023-10-27T09:14:42.682+01:00<p> <span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cuckoo in The Nest: Fran Hill. </span> </span> </p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqtX4MsEMcO8g1DIMUvmd6CaOnsWBq26CS3dfoNnwLPItnRAzyUcGSbSczzhOC1YR9QSG6YaRFgz0Bni2xXY1D08oujWbFVgAN9uy9nH1ef5BqQ_F-2f2APNHd_T3Co90UNuJzEGmpAruIYpkNd5ZU759bZTwVlioORi5pF4fiemnlUV6KxjW7yKHJhKA/s346/cuckoo.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="226" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqtX4MsEMcO8g1DIMUvmd6CaOnsWBq26CS3dfoNnwLPItnRAzyUcGSbSczzhOC1YR9QSG6YaRFgz0Bni2xXY1D08oujWbFVgAN9uy9nH1ef5BqQ_F-2f2APNHd_T3Co90UNuJzEGmpAruIYpkNd5ZU759bZTwVlioORi5pF4fiemnlUV6KxjW7yKHJhKA/w210-h320/cuckoo.jpg" width="210" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN-GB">Narrated by fourteen-year-old Jackie, <i>Cuckoo in the Nest </i>is the story of Jackie, an aspiring poet who is wiser beyond her years. She’s had to be since her mum died and her father slid into alcoholism alternating between violence and helplessness. Jackie has kept the pair of them going but when the authorities eventually step in, she is fostered by Nick and Bridget Wall whose daughter Amanda does not welcome the newcomer.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>Set in Britain’s heatwave summer of 1976, there are plenty of cultural references including music for those of us who remember this era, and setting the scene for those who don’t. (Gammon slices with pineapple sauce, anyone? Or a drive in a mustard-coloured Ford Escort?)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">As Jackie negotiates her new situation, she is aware that her foster parents also have to find their way with the arrangement as much as she does herself. Amanda does too but without any consideration towards Jackie or, indeed, her parents.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Jackie gets through the days guarding her emotions carefully, but we see small snippets of her pain and vulnerability – always understated but saying so much. ‘</span><i>It was about finding Carolines or perhaps Janes or Marions with my dad and wearing my mother’s silk dressing gown.’ </i><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">As the story unfolds, we see that Bridget is hanging onto her middle-class aspirations by her fingernails. How does she negotiate the minefield of a resentful teenager and the proverbial cuckoo in the nest when things go awry?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Jackie narrates her story with sardonic humour although occasionally I found this a little too adult for even a bright and precocious fourteen-year-old. However, it didn’t mar my enjoyment of reading.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;">This story is fiction but <i>Cuckoo in The Nest</i> is informed by the author’s own experience of living with a foster family, giving it authenticity and allowing the reader insights into the experiences of children in the care system and perhaps breaking down preconceived ideas about children in care. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-2144471436318571702023-05-11T10:35:00.011+01:002023-05-11T10:42:08.594+01:00My First Post in Ages<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTvV401xn7hIbsE866uijIwK7sDpXRhZO54B5YACGdNYwsh3GoNxIVxspPwlfQ0wpkCgB1TJEvbSr1sOApA0ajMN7EBmJnoNet7nnPy04YI6ADSEvaS3HcdJIyEMqmXJrGQPvglJkGf58RU7BFznPvBS-m5nzGx35MYFSNmdlqLwxKQu9j4zelb8weQ/s3072/P1080550.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="3072" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTvV401xn7hIbsE866uijIwK7sDpXRhZO54B5YACGdNYwsh3GoNxIVxspPwlfQ0wpkCgB1TJEvbSr1sOApA0ajMN7EBmJnoNet7nnPy04YI6ADSEvaS3HcdJIyEMqmXJrGQPvglJkGf58RU7BFznPvBS-m5nzGx35MYFSNmdlqLwxKQu9j4zelb8weQ/s320/P1080550.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Kilda</td></tr></tbody></table>I've just passed my fourth anniversary of my move to Australia so thought I should update this blog. I haven't been posting because there hasn't been a great deal of writerly news. I've been busy but not achieving much to shout about.<p></p><p>Back in March I enjoyed presenting a talk about older women in fiction, or rather the lack of them, to a small group who tuned in on Zoom for my IWWGs Women's History Month event. I read one of my stories about Lorna aged 64 (which also features the pier in the picture) which went down well. I also raised the issue of how women of all ages have typically been missing from history books.</p><p>Older women are in novels, although they are massively under-represented - but it's how they're portrayed that interests me and often bothers me. Do we lump all 'older' women in one group like so many tick boxes on forms where there's one last box: 60+ - as if a 60 year old is the same as a 99 year old or a 109 year old. Many portrayals are somewhat negative. The film industry seems to have taken to older women, providing of course they are Botoxed, glamorous and extremely wealthy. They don't seem to have have aching joints like many real older women do, but tear around like teenagers which I find equally irritating. </p><p>If you're interested in older women in fiction do check out <a href="https://www.bookword.co.uk/about-the-older-women-fiction-group/">BookWord</a> that shows a variety of books with older women in them, although not all are positive portrayals.</p><p>Then there is the matter of older writers and especially older women getting published. Again, there has been some improvement lately and I welcomed the article published by <i>The Guardian</i> not long ago which you can read <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/unpublished-older-female-writers-authors">here</a>. More recently of course is the good news of the competition from Jenny Brown Associates Literary agents for novelists over 50 <a href="https://jennybrownassociates.com/news">here</a>. It's open only to UK residents so I am not eligible but I'd have definitely submitted otherwise. I look forward to hearing the results.</p><p>What of my own writing this year? Not much, I'm afraid. I pitched my novel and did get a call for the first three chapters, synopsis etc but alas it got no further. </p><p>I've had three small pieces published online including <a href="https://brightflash1000.com/2023/02/02/much-time-has-passed/">Much Time Has Passed </a>and have been longlisted in a <a href="https://brilliantflashfiction.com/2023/05/10/2023-writing-contest-results/">Brilliant Flash Fiction</a> competition. </p><p>There have been plenty of rejections as always. Some disappoint but most roll off the proverbial duck's back. They should as I've had enough since my first rejection in 2005. </p><p>To date I've made 367 submissions to competitions, journals and magazines. 74 were accepted and published online or on paper plus 20 competition long-listings or short-listings. If I add those in to the success mix, my very poor mathematical skills make that around a 25% success rate or a 75% not success rate. </p><p>I'll keep going though.</p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-14764762101871756792023-01-21T06:45:00.001+00:002023-01-21T06:45:56.805+00:00Every Family Has a Story<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQ5bvxkEM7vsbSCAdWQ4E7I8B6ZyIP91zb4oQNKaJgahMcW1o4yRbgodCioX8UrjSEDkL3ASfUmmc4VG3u_HHyidXRCV-2c-nsW7dFszA7JpAJrbExzYg7Rf_yVR-edIf88ecteX9Gyp7j-O5iZNIyMySPnd23GUPzZwO-rUdxN3hYwGX6fq35f2pow/s565/st_2406155.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQ5bvxkEM7vsbSCAdWQ4E7I8B6ZyIP91zb4oQNKaJgahMcW1o4yRbgodCioX8UrjSEDkL3ASfUmmc4VG3u_HHyidXRCV-2c-nsW7dFszA7JpAJrbExzYg7Rf_yVR-edIf88ecteX9Gyp7j-O5iZNIyMySPnd23GUPzZwO-rUdxN3hYwGX6fq35f2pow/s320/st_2406155.png" width="227" /></a></div>My story of my grandmother was included in this publication from <a href="https://www.familyhistoryact.org.au/">Family History ACT</a>. The 110 stories it contains are from those entered into their 2021 competition.<p></p><p>The book is full of fascinating narratives about ordinary - and sometimes extraordinary - people whose lives have not made headlines or been included in standard historical records but greatly add to our understanding of the past. </p><p>I wrote my story as I believe such accounts are important to those who come after - so much gets lost through verbal retellings as I have mentioned on this blog <a href="http://lindsaybamfield.blogspot.com/2018/12/family-stories-that-make-history-but.html">before</a>. </p><p>There is no doubt that researching our ancestors' lives has been made much easier by the online websites such as <a href="https://www.ancestry.com/">Ancestry</a>. One of my sisters did a great deal of research that has added to our family story, and has partially resolved one mystery. But as some questions are answered, new questions arise.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7bBjBibthDrLSUnLuinDmCWGbou8ELJchQDH_S4U0mo0dWdgrVylLUQTuDl1Vra8iUf5qzu6a9IHvLIENrbHzFZ2hJHdI62vO1LaDDdZ4z1NsOOoAncY8Dw3VH_FonIvWXRhyATxSM7-F7U09V0KuBELCYDY8WlQIQTl5bRSCiZwJf8sBJQrS2-tag/s4000/20230119_135511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7bBjBibthDrLSUnLuinDmCWGbou8ELJchQDH_S4U0mo0dWdgrVylLUQTuDl1Vra8iUf5qzu6a9IHvLIENrbHzFZ2hJHdI62vO1LaDDdZ4z1NsOOoAncY8Dw3VH_FonIvWXRhyATxSM7-F7U09V0KuBELCYDY8WlQIQTl5bRSCiZwJf8sBJQrS2-tag/w240-h320/20230119_135511.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My story.</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>Accessing some of the public family trees featuring various of my ancestors also shows that there are many mistakes made by other researchers, muddling names, dates and so on. Some errors have no doubt arisen because deciphering the handwritten records is difficult, others because of families tending to use the same forenames - sometimes a child born after a sibling has died was given the same name. The spelling by recording clerks was often inaccurate too. Family legend had it that my great-aunt was named Lilian Lucy Helen but the person who registered her birth was not very articulate and the clerk wrote Ellen instead of Helen. Records confirm this!</p><p>But research is fascinating and my own dabbling on sites such as Ancestry and <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/">Trove</a> digitalised newspapers has given me some small gems which I've added to our family archive. It also pointed to more of my great-great-grandmother's family members emigrating to Australia in the nineteenth century than we previously knew about. I wish I knew their stories too.</p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-22084690796288547642022-12-29T03:31:00.001+00:002022-12-29T03:37:39.371+00:00Books I Enjoyed This Year<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluoZfrw3j31mtapPhibGRRMNgx-WgMmJF1OEtfRlBkorzN02rNGCpkvztIDy4UiELCN2PEbMt9sy9PBHhkwOZKWHMsb7qKCSJ5BWSzto9hExyK487IZEZdZ4WXW8pOjboZ1iyco5qRWoeueozpqQXm3OmYBbHJBToRQno5ASs31QTPk23kMsOPYOE2w/s836/kooka%20mug.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluoZfrw3j31mtapPhibGRRMNgx-WgMmJF1OEtfRlBkorzN02rNGCpkvztIDy4UiELCN2PEbMt9sy9PBHhkwOZKWHMsb7qKCSJ5BWSzto9hExyK487IZEZdZ4WXW8pOjboZ1iyco5qRWoeueozpqQXm3OmYBbHJBToRQno5ASs31QTPk23kMsOPYOE2w/s320/kooka%20mug.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>Book lists are ubiquitous but mine aren't lists of best-sellers - although one or two may feature. They aren't prize winning lists, although maybe a couple of titles are on those lists too. They aren't only books published this year, although some may be. <br /></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">This year I've read 77 books, most of which I've enjoyed. I select books not necessarily because I consider them to be the best written but because they're the ones I have most enjoyed reading. Those that have given me food for thought, pleasure, education and, in several cases, the delight of something refreshingly different. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The books I've read this year have taken me to a number of different locations in the UK, USA and Australia plus Ireland, Sweden, Mustique, Guyana, Spain, Botswana, Zimbabwe, India, Crete, Hungary, Germany and New Zealand. I've been back and forward in time!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I couldn't decide on a Top Ten so it's a Top Twelve in no particular order.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Femlandia</i> - Christina Dalcher. The author's third dystopian novel. Like all in this genre, it is not so far-fetched as we might initially think. Thought provoking to say the least.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Still Life</i> - Sarah Winman. I found this book of unlikely friendships compelling and delightful. It's also a love letter to the city of Florence.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><i style="font-family: inherit;">Remember Me</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - Charity Norman. The story of a daughter and father and learning the truth of a twenty-five year old mystery. Sad and beautiful to read.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Secrets of Elephants</i> - Vasundra Tailor. A story of three generations of a family spanning two continents with courage at the story's heart. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Dinner With the Schnabels</i> - Toni Jordan. Funny but examining difficult issues with a few twists along the way.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray</i> - Anita Heiss. An historical novel on displacement and the clash of cultures between Wiradjuri people and white settlers. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Small Pleasures</i> - Clare Chambers. Capturing the 50s beautifully, as well as the character of Jean who feel life has passed her by, the story revolves round a real article about parthenogenesis and a woman's belief that she had a virgin birth. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Crimson Thread</i> - Kate Forsyth. A wartime novel focusing on bravery of locals and hidden soldiers during Nazi occupation of Crete.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Giver of Stars</i> - Jojo Moyes. Women of the packhorse library on East Kentucky in late 30s. Female friendship and resilience. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison</i> - Meredith Jaffe. Quirky and feelgood. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Once Upon A Camino</i> - Matthew S Wilson. Tom's pilgrimage on the Camino Santiago takes the reader on an adventure as surprising as Tom's.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>After Story</i> - Larissa Behrendt. After grief and trauma comes healing and understanding. Plus a literary tour of the UK and stories of one of the oldest story-telling cultures of the world.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-26781685931839951722022-10-02T02:42:00.004+01:002023-01-24T08:21:52.114+00:00Books by Friends<p>At the book chatters group at my local library, where we talk about and discuss books we have liked, or sometimes not liked, I mentioned that I'd recently enjoyed two books written by friends.</p><p>Then it struck me that I hadn't met either of them in person but only via the Internet. But writers groups are generally friendly places and are supportive of each other, enjoying each others' success so it feels as if members are, indeed, friends. </p>The important things though are the books in question. The first was Matthew S. Wilson's <i>Once Upon A Camino.</i><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0b5--wYO2dRpbqufNPckJT7O3tE9oAxmZKNJuf_6jddUNpxbkO9o_eEJL9sNMpHA4yBm9YalGOe5113zc14SfxARxnbU24T_9Fl9v2r8JEdjyQJM0C-73YfaF6AY40jZIfRYg_hWZVT2MyUDU0vDNOFWF4hkxq661I884LfJR_ginLhqGtlnXZtKYQ/s4000/20220728_122410.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0b5--wYO2dRpbqufNPckJT7O3tE9oAxmZKNJuf_6jddUNpxbkO9o_eEJL9sNMpHA4yBm9YalGOe5113zc14SfxARxnbU24T_9Fl9v2r8JEdjyQJM0C-73YfaF6AY40jZIfRYg_hWZVT2MyUDU0vDNOFWF4hkxq661I884LfJR_ginLhqGtlnXZtKYQ/s320/20220728_122410.jpg" width="240" /></a></div></i><p>During the many Melbourne lockdowns during the first two years of Covid-19, writers came to together via Zoom courtesy of Writers Victoria and its host <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Noè</span> Harsel twice a week. Participants wrote for 25 minutes. Some used No<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">è'</span>s prompts, others did their own thing. We didn't listen or critique each other's work but several of us would chat for a few minutes afterwards. </p><p>Matthew joined on as many Tuesdays and Fridays as he could to complete his novel and get it published. </p><p>I read it soon after it was published. I knew the protagonist, Tom, walked the Camino de Santiago, as Matthew had done some years before, and was doing it to prove his love for his girlfriend to her grandfather. I knew Tom lost his luggage at the beginning of the journey. What I didn't know was that my journey as a reader would be as unexpected as Tom found his walking adventure. I rate books by their un-put-down-ability and this was one I raced through to keep up with its narrative pace. Well worth the read!</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbldSDW0KM3KluhEWQGI778o5f4pW1OJ_rjv8DC4xgr1GF9Y3OL1qFLF3EnPDmjSrPr1CtjoOb1vIamSytbafLTi3g5UYB4MggIRZ2wRSXhfkMwAzijXPe1j6q99S0EEXAgDFrTYrPNwwhEHh2pnuRSbJvS2eHXS_VmYXuWUSjb7Oo5z9lTm84jvKgQ/s3084/elephants.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3084" data-original-width="2313" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbldSDW0KM3KluhEWQGI778o5f4pW1OJ_rjv8DC4xgr1GF9Y3OL1qFLF3EnPDmjSrPr1CtjoOb1vIamSytbafLTi3g5UYB4MggIRZ2wRSXhfkMwAzijXPe1j6q99S0EEXAgDFrTYrPNwwhEHh2pnuRSbJvS2eHXS_VmYXuWUSjb7Oo5z9lTm84jvKgQ/w240-h310/elephants.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The second book wasn't entirely new to me as I had been a beta reader for Vasundra Tailor, a member of my former North London writing Group Greenacre Writers, although Vasundra joined after I had left. When I heard she was seeking readers for her manuscript set in India and Zimbabwe I couldn't resist as I love books set in different countries to my native UK. <p></p><p>I thoroughly enjoyed reading the manuscript and felt she definitely had a novel worthy of publication. But we all know the path to that doesn't always run smoothly so I was delighted when she announced she had a publishing contract and later, Vasundra kindly sent me a copy. </p><p>Reading <i>The Secret of Elephants </i>felt like meeting up with old friends. A family story spanning three generations and two countries, I enjoyed the re-read of this story of uncovering family secrets and finding courage. I'm thinking of suggesting a sequel!</p><p>Thank you writerly friends for giving me two highly enjoyable reads.</p><p><br /></p><p>Follow the authors on Twitter:</p><p>Matthew S. Wilson @Matthew_SWilson <i>Once Upon A Camino</i></p><p>Vasundra Tailor @vasundrajay <i>The Secret of Elephants</i></p><p><br /></p></div>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-19989787968813230962022-06-23T02:46:00.003+01:002022-06-25T12:05:24.734+01:00Mentone Public Library - the Story of a Tiny Library in Mentone<p>Tucked away
in the Melbourne suburb of Mentone is a library.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I arrived in Australia to live, my first priority was to buy a
home and the second to join my nearest library. The previous year when staying with my daughter, I'd seen a sign to Mentone Library but couldn't locate it! I searched on the Kingston
website and found plenty of libraries including those at nearby Cheltenham and
Parkdale but no mention of Mentone. I guessed it had been closed like so many
of the libraries in my native UK. My then local library in North London had
been drastically reduced in size and hundreds of others in UK closed in spite
of over-whelming public protest. </p><p class="MsoNormal">But once settled (and now a holder of a Kingston Libraries card) a little more investigation found I was
wrong. Mentone Library was alive and well, albeit by now sleeping during Covid
lockdowns.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You won’t
find it on the Kingston library website because it’s an independent public
library. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">On 14<sup>th</sup>
May 2022 it celebrated its 97<sup>th</sup> birthday. In its newly painted
interior, a number of us gathered around its brand-new tables amidst the bookshelves
lining the walls and read aloud short pieces of our writing. Some were
published authors, others still dabbling and some yet to commit to calling
themselves a writer; all were made welcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Established
in 1925 – making it the longest surviving community library in Melbourne’s
City of Kingston – Mentone Library has always been staffed entirely by
volunteers.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Not only lending
books, the library’s mission is to encourage literary discussion, promote local
authors and community events. Current plans include establishing a writers’
centre.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">I learned about its history from the City of Kingston’s Local
History website in an article by Grahame J Whitehead. Mentone had a library in
1890 consisting of three room in the Skating Rink with a selection of 300 books
and newspapers. Later, the books transferred to an estate agency as the rink’s
room closed in winter. Lack of council funding and support led the people of
Mentone to set about raising funds to establish their own library building. To
raise money, they held a garden fete to be opened by the governor of Victoria,
Sir John Fuller. He spoke of the importance of education and reading but, he
warned, there were also many books, the trashy shilling shockers, which if read,
left the reader worse for having read them. He hoped the good people of Mentone
would avoid such nonsense. In spite of their endeavours the library closed down
in 1924. Perhaps because those good people read too many shilling shockers.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">A few months later a group of twenty-five people met with the
aim of establishing a new library and on May 6th 1925 a temporary library
opened in the rooms of the Rifle Range in Brindisi Street. It boasted 120
subscribers who could borrow any of their 550 books.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">After the first ten years 175,000 books had been exchanged,
with the stock now numbering 4,500.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The library moved home to a room in the council chambers in
1955, a time when the establishment of a new free municipal public library was
under discussion eventually resulting in the library at Parkdale. The Mentone
library was struggling and once again moved home, this time to a large
container in the recreation ground. Another couple of moves found the library eventually
settling into a room to the rear of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in Florence
Street in 1997 which is still its home today and where I made my first visit.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Today the shelves are packed with around 3,500 books bought
with library funds and grants from Kingston City council, a great supporter of
the library, and donations from members and other benefactors. From its inception
as the only library in the area almost a hundred years ago Mentone Library is
now sandwiched between well-stocked free public libraries so this little library
needed to rethink its position. The committee is repurposing it as a writers’
centre and in keeping with that aim, its library stock will focus on books
about the locale, whether histories, memoirs or fiction as well as books by
local authors.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The volunteers kept events going during pandemic lockdowns by
transferring to Zoom and they took advantage of the library’s closure to
smarten it up but it remains a delightful combination of old and new. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The volunteers continue to be its life support as it is they
who enable the library to open to the public. Currently this is for a two-hour
slot from Monday to Friday10.00am-12.00 noon. More volunteers are needed to
help expand the opening hours. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">You may join as a member for $10 a year simply by applying at
the library or emailing and bank transfer. If you’d like to receive the
newsletter, email your request. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The committee is planning further events including open mic
events and the library space will be available for hire for writerly
endeavours, whether a short course or for a writing group’s regular meeting. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">For more information and upcoming events see:</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MPLWritersCentre"><span style="background: white;">https://www.facebook.com/MPLWritersCentre</span></a><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://mentonepubliclibrary.blogspot.com/"><span style="background: white;">https://mentonepubliclibrary.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Email: </span><a href="mailto:mentonepubliclibrary@gmail.com"><span style="background: white;">mentonepubliclibrary@gmail.com</span></a><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">MPL is to be found at the rear of the Information Bureau, 36
Florence Street, Mentone, Vic 3194. Plenty of parking in the Coles carpark
adjacent. Walkable from Mentone Station. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-78565676911417902932022-04-22T05:21:00.001+01:002022-04-22T05:21:15.939+01:00Examining the Past and Challenging the Future.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0nv31o254NRKLyD2mTxOo3EGdChXKgPFX8amNTbWMzlPzeqaZkD_vaNRKWJw1j4C5kDMOl2FgtA0t0FxF9iudRMR0VZ_YEZTwiFr-eTUpQRJ3pC0SGZuYVr2HBaAiSZ79pkIV5bBso-_5uPKAyltcMXgzSq9ftkf52SUxcXHdkp7UvZ9KJPWSijT4Q/s3871/20220419_163818.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3871" data-original-width="2904" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0nv31o254NRKLyD2mTxOo3EGdChXKgPFX8amNTbWMzlPzeqaZkD_vaNRKWJw1j4C5kDMOl2FgtA0t0FxF9iudRMR0VZ_YEZTwiFr-eTUpQRJ3pC0SGZuYVr2HBaAiSZ79pkIV5bBso-_5uPKAyltcMXgzSq9ftkf52SUxcXHdkp7UvZ9KJPWSijT4Q/s320/20220419_163818.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Perhaps the reason one of my A' Levels was a grade too low was because I went out dancing the night before. Or maybe I'd not revised enough. Whatever, it meant I wouldn't get my place on the prestigious librarianship course unless I re-did the A level or worked in a library for a year. I duly applied to the central library in Bristol and was granted an interview just after my 18th birthday in October. I was offered the post and asked when I could start. 'Could it be January?' I asked. The chief librarian looked horrified so I quickly explained that I was currently working in a children's home and really wanted to be there for Christmas. 'I think you are not very serious about this position,' replied the librarian frostily to which I agreed that no, perhaps I wasn't. And there ended my potential career. <p></p><p>Instead I went on to qualify as a Residential Child Care Officer which later led me to becoming a speech and language therapist. My choice on that day was something I've never regretted. And Christmas at the children's home was wonderful. I still have the card that 6 year-old Fred drew for me. A bright pink panther (Fred's favourite cartoon) with a speech bubble announcing 'Happy Chrismas from the Pink Panter' [sic] </p><p>Since those far off days there has been a huge re-examining of children's homes in the recent past, many of which were full of abuse and did little or nothing to protect the children in their care. I trust none of those I worked in were guilty (I certainly never witnessed nor suspected any such behaviour.) I've always believed that abusing a position of trust is one of the worst crimes we can commit against fellow humans. I have happy memories of the children who were in my care but I've often wondered whether their memories are as positive. I hope some of their recollections are but making stable relationships with carers was always going to be hard as they were subjected to a series of people, however good, passing through their lives. And did we address all the needs and the concerns of the children on the matter of their identities? And how well prepared were those entering their adult years? Years on, with greater wisdom, I see there may well have been failures.</p><p>Like many people I've noticed how often the killer, especially serial killers, in books or TV programmes and films are orphans. (In reality relatively few children in care are orphans.) I'd assumed this wasn't so much that the writers believed orphans are evil, but that they couldn't be bothered to think up suitable reasons for why a child turns into an adult killer. If there is no family, parents or siblings, no-one needs to be held accountable for perhaps contributing in some way to those crimes. No backstory needs to be written - just some unnamed children's home. But much as I was aware of the unfairness of these portrayals, I didn't consider what that was like for people who are care-experienced. Josie Pearse writes a much more carefully considered article <a href="https://www.careexperienceandculture.com/post/what-about-the-84-by-josie-pearse">here.</a></p><p>When Rosie Canning - fellow founder of Greenacre Writers and The Finchley Literary Festival - began working on an examination of representations of care-experienced people in literature, partly to address and challenge this issue, I suspect she didn't then realise how this theme would blossom into a number of other projects such as the UK/Australian <a href="https://www.careexperienceandculture.com/">Care Experience and Culture</a> with Dr Dee Michell. </p><p>Their recent online book club featuring representations of care in literature includes memoir and novels.</p><p><a href="http://sarahhilary.com/">Sarah Hilar</a>y joined the first discussion with her book <i>Fragile, </i>a modern gothic novel telling the stories of two young people who were in the care system and their foster mother. </p><p>The second event's speakers were <a href="https://www.facebook.com/writingbysusanfrancis">Susan Francis</a> from Australia and Anne Harrison from UK. I was already following Susan on Twitter but hadn't, at that point, read her book <i>The Love That Remains. </i>Anne Harrison and her memoir, <i>Call Me Auntie,</i> was at the time unknown to me. </p><p>Both spoke so eloquently about their memoirs and the search for their birth parents, I knew I wanted to read them both. I had been lucky enough to win a copy of <i>Call Me Auntie</i> from the book club which was winging its way towards me, and I quickly ordered a copy of <i>The Love That Remains </i>which I dived into immediately I received it. </p><p>The books are very different but have a great deal in common. At the core of each is the writer's need to know their identity. The 'Where did I come from?' Both authors, one adopted, and one initially fostered and then living in children's homes, set out to search for their roots. They search for their birth mothers to learn about their identity and in the hope of forging a relationship of some sort. Both find answers to some of their questions but many are left unanswered.</p><p>Both books are well written and enable to reader to follow the narratives easily. Anne Harrison's <i>Call Me Auntie </i>is a factual account; much of her early history is related using documents from her care file which was made available to her quite recently. This is not a 'misery lit' account by any means but some was hard to read. The treatment of the children in one care home was emotionally and physically abusive which made me feel very angry and the scenes with her birth mother filled me with sadness and dismay. </p><p>Susan Francis's <i>The Love That Remains </i>tells of her need to discover the truth about her parents. Even though she was happily adopted, her unknown roots left her with insecurities. Here too, many scenes make for emotional reading. But Susan's need to search for the truth about the past doesn't stop with her birth parents. She discovers another awful secret which needs verification, and to be understood and accepted.</p><p>Ultimately, both books are journeys of courage and discovery and yet more courage. </p><p>To follow these authors on Twitter:</p><p>Susan Francis @susanfranciswr1 </p><p>Anne Harrison @anne4harrison</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-14011966166135101152022-02-22T08:21:00.000+00:002022-02-22T08:21:01.343+00:00A Competition for Competitions.I've written about entering competitions before, whether to keep submitting a story or give up on it after a number of rejections or failing to hit a longlist. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMIAuf9mJHpMOl5Vx-d6Zxr3mB5j2NNBxKBi1uZ3vU2O45Elb-AB6F_-FErT28nUPj7mngkbMRfDbrNI0IiZHteMv98eUmrMLb-M1LKI4N-9vJlKDj7ZnUZwz2x0aW-gK4s6DuscvFZ0BbrpLTiV4kaxMIwnoVr8i8unOuNEWsUS21-sS5tXZBgIxyIQ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="217" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMIAuf9mJHpMOl5Vx-d6Zxr3mB5j2NNBxKBi1uZ3vU2O45Elb-AB6F_-FErT28nUPj7mngkbMRfDbrNI0IiZHteMv98eUmrMLb-M1LKI4N-9vJlKDj7ZnUZwz2x0aW-gK4s6DuscvFZ0BbrpLTiV4kaxMIwnoVr8i8unOuNEWsUS21-sS5tXZBgIxyIQ=w299-h320" width="299" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div>A blogpost from <a href="https://lisakenway.com/2021/10/02/what-makes-a-writing-competition-worth-the-entry-fee/">Lisa Kenway</a> interested me and I had a few thoughts of my own on the subject. I've studied details of loads of competitions to see if I am eligible or have a possible entry. I've entered 28 competitions since the beginning of last year with a spectacular lack of success. I was longlisted in one of Australian Writing Centre's Furious Fictions but got nowhere in the other seven I entered. </div><div><br /></div><div>Six of the competitions are yet to be announced but apart from that longlisting the rest resulted in zilch. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>My gripe isn't my lack of success (much as I wish for it) but that some of the competitions did not give a set date when results would be announced and in the event did not let non-winning competitors (ie: me) know they had been announced. Some did not have long lists and in one case no shortlist - just three winners. Some gave an announcement date but failed to deliver any results by that date. </div><div><br /></div><div>The AWC Furious Fiction winners are announced on the day they say they will announce it. There is only one cash winner but there is a shortlist with stories published and a named longlist. They deliver what they promise. As do Lorraine Mace's <a href="https://flash500.com/">Flash 500 </a>competitions where all entrants are emailed to say the results are in.</div><div><br /></div><div>I imagine the big well-known competitions also deliver long and short-lists and winners on time (I wouldn't know not having entered them) but some comps don't do well in this respect. No acknowledgement of entries and no announcements made well after the date advertised doesn't bode well. Has my entry and fee disappeared in to the ether? </div><div><br /></div><div>Having co-run three competitions for Greenacre Writers we did both in a timely fashion! Of course there can be delays for any amount of reasons, but let your entrants know! Because of delayed announcements, I've sometimes missed a deadline for a second competition in which I've intended to enter a story if it got nowhere in a previous comp. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've seen several competitions that didn't advertise who the judge will be. That may not be important to some but after something that happened in a Zoom creative writing event last year I decided not to enter a particular story in a competition I was considering because, unless all the other entries were all utterly dreadful, I knew it wouldn't be placed let alone win. </div><div><br /></div><div>This story had been shortlisted by readers in another competition the year before and passed to the judge. It wasn't placed. Fair enough. The Zoom writing event was conducted by the writer who had been the judge. After doing some writing exercises she talked about what wins competitions. She mentioned the usual suspects and then mentioned the comp I had entered and was very rude about the non-winning short-listed stories. </div><div><br /></div><div>She made a very negative comment about one entry that could well have been my story so when I learned she was to be the judge in this forthcoming competition there was no way I was going to pay a fee for it to be dismissed again. Had she made constructive comments, who knows, maybe I would have tweaked my story and entered. I disliked her dismissive attitude to the work put in by those shortlisted writers. We may not have been up to her standard but there was no need to be so rude. I'll be avoiding her from now on!</div><div><br /></div><div>So I think it's time we had a competition for competitions. Which would be in your top three? </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-62689894509080821302021-12-23T05:12:00.001+00:002022-02-05T22:48:05.860+00:00My favourite books of 2021 <p>These 'best reads' lists are ubiquitous but I make no apology for adding to them. Mine isn't based on the books that I think might look good in my list, those prize winning tomes that pop up in so many literary top 10s. There will be some of course but sometimes I see books that have had great publicity but I thought nothing special and wonder whether people selecting them as their best reads really liked them! For me there's a difference between good reads and favourite reads. Some books, that I can see are worthy literary specimens, aren't necessarily ones I enjoyed reading although I appreciated their merit while others may not be brilliant literature but are thoroughly enjoyable. This list is about enjoyment. </p><p>Owing to further lockdowns I read more books than most years - even beating last year but that was because last year's books included <i>A Suitable Boy. </i>I've read 74 so far this year with another couple to be added before the year is out.</p><p>Here are my favourites. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nhN2ludA-l4/YcQEoj9XWZI/AAAAAAAAaKA/MvNgk5McgkElsWxi7CH3rgIJzsM1E273wCNcBGAsYHQ/winter-in-tabriz.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nhN2ludA-l4/YcQEoj9XWZI/AAAAAAAAaKA/MvNgk5McgkElsWxi7CH3rgIJzsM1E273wCNcBGAsYHQ/w124-h200/winter-in-tabriz.jpg" width="124" /></a></div><i>The Dutch House -</i> Ann Patchett. One of my out-of-last-year's-lockdown purchases.<p></p><p><i>Transcription </i>- Kate Atkinson. A library loan because I've liked previous books of hers.</p><p><i>Winter in Tabriz </i>- Shelia Llewellyn. A library loan picked simply because I've been to Tabriz. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifF_zT4aw6158tu83NRNM2oEtmJUcsyQEoz2d7VNpWiI2RZRjBaQkpiyTGoGPQ08OtlZ8GXzJNDJTuY-RvEe4irDPOl107qhTJD9N9hlFJ0AZblgNF3OUcIdfnMqqmETcLIkPhfkrjjH8f4L9hQvtPg0Mk3ZepHultD7kDu9xr_kIE747vE5K3X7MMMQ=s320" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifF_zT4aw6158tu83NRNM2oEtmJUcsyQEoz2d7VNpWiI2RZRjBaQkpiyTGoGPQ08OtlZ8GXzJNDJTuY-RvEe4irDPOl107qhTJD9N9hlFJ0AZblgNF3OUcIdfnMqqmETcLIkPhfkrjjH8f4L9hQvtPg0Mk3ZepHultD7kDu9xr_kIE747vE5K3X7MMMQ=w150-h200" width="150" /></a><i>The Freedom Circus</i> - Sue Smethurst. A non-fiction purchase after hearing Sue talk about it. <br /><br /></p><p><i>Wimmera</i> - Mark Brandi, another library loan as I'd had this one recommended. </p><p><i>Shuggie Bain </i>- Douglas Stuart. A purchase, and while it hit my top reads, I did have to read another couple of frothy books at the same time because of the endless bleakness.</p><p><i>Honeybee</i> - Craig Silvey. A library loan because I'd heard good things about it</p><p><i>The White Girl</i> - Tony Birch. Library loan, ditto.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdoodgJWL16uCbbU810J8hMj7FaUtkMVmTTUK3PJd5L94a2hPAPO8GWiIqLGpudBkunIITzc8eebbIvXahtTeQnltAe7YB8oY686LtvGfn3hrW5KS6U7NVV3p1jAFRswDFQRLLe9u5qoiTnGVHb2nDgMuxiPMK4fFLLXszQ3PdJKcW9P-tP1WtwykseA=s460" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdoodgJWL16uCbbU810J8hMj7FaUtkMVmTTUK3PJd5L94a2hPAPO8GWiIqLGpudBkunIITzc8eebbIvXahtTeQnltAe7YB8oY686LtvGfn3hrW5KS6U7NVV3p1jAFRswDFQRLLe9u5qoiTnGVHb2nDgMuxiPMK4fFLLXszQ3PdJKcW9P-tP1WtwykseA=w131-h200" width="131" /></a><i>The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital </i>- Joanna Nell. A purchase because I love Joanna Nell's books.</p><p><i>The Vanishing Half</i> - Brit Bennett. A loan from my local street bookshelf.</p><p><i>The School</i> - Brendan James Murray. A non-fiction giveaway from the author which I wrote about <a href="http://lindsaybamfield.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-school-by-brendan-james-murray.html">here</a>.</p><p><i>At The End of the Day</i> - Liz Byrski. A click and collect lockdown purchase because I've enjoyed a number of her books. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-90900858012057709672021-11-12T05:03:00.004+00:002021-11-12T05:03:44.559+00:00Inside Fictional Minds by Dr Stephanie Carty. A brief review.<p> <i>Inside Fictional Minds </i><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">by Dr Stephanie Carty. Published by Ad Hoc Fiction, 2021. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Available in UK from <a href="https://bookshop.adhocfiction.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=217">Ad Hoc Fiction (UK) </a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Available in Australia from <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Inside-Fictional-Minds-Psychology-Characters/dp/1912095459">Amazon</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y-3oFfp95nw/YY3ysER1OGI/AAAAAAAAaIA/af9eO4bkdOUPqcQ7zEJYkVRDPr8g6sMCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s457/Inside-Fictional-Minds-Web.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y-3oFfp95nw/YY3ysER1OGI/AAAAAAAAaIA/af9eO4bkdOUPqcQ7zEJYkVRDPr8g6sMCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Inside-Fictional-Minds-Web.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Dr Stephanie Carty is a consultant psychologist working in UK’s NHS and is also the writer of innovative flash fiction of whom I’ve seen many a mention because she keeps winning competitions and being published on flash fiction forums and in anthologies!<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When she developed her online course, The Psychology of Character, I booked and found an interesting, fresh approach to writing our fictional characters. The book was developed from the course. It’s a slim volume, just 126 pages, but is packed with useful information.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We’ve all read stories with good and interesting characters who make a decision or do something that jars, without any explanation why they are acting so differently. Stephanie’s aim is to help writers create more realistic characters, still full of individual quirks and traits but whose behaviour and emotions follows a realistic pattern for that particular person.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This isn’t about abnormal psychology but everyday people, their beliefs, their values and how their emotional life<br />develops. For example, we can all think of times when we might feel anger but how it manifests can vary enormously from person to person depending on aspects of our personality, the values we hold and the behaviours we deem acceptable.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Drawing on well-known psychological theories, such as attachment theory, Stephanie explains them in a straight forward manner. She even uses certain pandemic behaviours, that we all heard about, in the section about characters’ internal rules which illustrates how the same behaviour might arise from very different internal rules or experiences.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Throughout the book Stephanie asks us questions about our characters and invites us to keep looking deeper. Throughout the book there are 123 questions divided into 48 sets of tasks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">For example, in one section we are given these example questions: How does your character view himself? What does it achieve for him to think this way? What would happen if he stopped thinking this about himself? And so on. Some questions ask us how it might affect the readers of our work if they knew more or less about our characters and their motivations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The final section of the book is the chapter on change. Writers are constantly exhorted to have their characters change some aspect of themselves or their thinking throughout the story to give a satisfactory story arc. Yet in reality, people often resist change and the questions in this section guide us in making this a realistic and believable process.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There is a useful Further Reading section with books and links to various websites with recent quality information if readers wish to find out more on particular subjects.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This is a book that can be read and worked through in sequence or it can be dipped in and out of. Personally, I’d recommend reading it through to get a good overview and then using the sections you feel are most the relevant to your characters. This book could also be the starting point of creating interesting new characters for stories you’ve yet to write.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-85009939828393164782021-10-09T00:29:00.002+01:002021-10-15T07:07:48.864+01:00Books from Their Authors.<p>I love books! I buy them from bookshops (aiming for independent bookshops where I can) but sometimes from mainstream book shops and have found some gems in charity shops. I avoid one large online retailer but have occasionally resorted to it if I can find no other outlet. I borrow books from my local libraries, from our community book-swap and from friends. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kf_OfH6_HO4/YU5xbk6Sy6I/AAAAAAAAaE8/rzw-53M7PVkjbQlKSaxD9x06bVntweWTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s270/Schhol.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="177" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kf_OfH6_HO4/YU5xbk6Sy6I/AAAAAAAAaE8/rzw-53M7PVkjbQlKSaxD9x06bVntweWTwCLcBGAsYHQ/w131-h200/Schhol.png" width="131" /></a></div>This year I have also been given books through social media book promotions by their authors. I've been lucky enough to receive three books this way. All very different, they all looked interesting. <p></p><p><br /></p><p>The first was the wonderful non fiction <i>The School</i> by Brendan James Murray which I wrote about <a href="http://lindsaybamfield.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-school-by-brendan-james-murray.html">here</a>. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XqehGiqPZE0/YU5uiYDFnYI/AAAAAAAAaE0/Q39w7mFYV2Yela5vlREyT7kuUVoxnwRSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s463/violet-s-war.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XqehGiqPZE0/YU5uiYDFnYI/AAAAAAAAaE0/Q39w7mFYV2Yela5vlREyT7kuUVoxnwRSgCLcBGAsYHQ/w129-h200/violet-s-war.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>Second was <i>Violet's War </i>by Rosemary J Kind. In the category of women's historical fiction, this is a well researched story set during WWI and focuses on the rise of women's football in UK at this time. The team in the book is fictional but was inspired by true events. <p></p><p>Violet's husband enlists leaving her and their young son living with her parents-in-law. Now working on a munitions factory, Violet, whose brothers have always played games of football, enjoys teaching the basics to her son in his father's absence but when she becomes involved in coaching a women's team at the factory, the fear of her mother-in-law's disapproval conflicts with her love of the game. </p><p>When the team is asked to play in a proper match to raise funds for the local hospital for wounded soldiers, Violet has to decide which is more important - behaving in the demure way that society has deemed for married women or doing something proactive that could ultimately help her husband and his fellow soldiers.</p><p>In chapters that alternate from Violet's story to that of her husband in the front line, each uses real headlines from the newspapers of the time along with verses of songs that were popular, lending further authenticity to the plot. </p><p>Believable characters and a good plot tell us more then the simple story - it also highlights the restrictions placed on women at a time when they took on many of the roles of men who were away fighting but still had few rights themselves. The suffrage movement had not yet won universal votes for women in UK.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-llopGejgaU4/YVavTsovyPI/AAAAAAAAaFo/nvM0VebnFvcTSQPW4L0D5Y4E762dayvbACLcBGAsYHQ/s475/making%2BMarch.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="298" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-llopGejgaU4/YVavTsovyPI/AAAAAAAAaFo/nvM0VebnFvcTSQPW4L0D5Y4E762dayvbACLcBGAsYHQ/w126-h200/making%2BMarch.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><p></p><p>Set a hundred years later and 12,000 miles away from Violet's world we have Kate in <i>Making March </i>by Hayley Walsh. The book is written in the form of recently separated Kate's diary beginning on her 40th birthday on 1st February. She has a month before her friend's wedding where she is to be Maid of Honour. </p><p>The bride is her dear friend and the groom is her ex's closest friend. To complicate matters the ex is now seeing the groom's sister, the woman with whom he cheated on Kate, so of course they'll be at the wedding. </p><p>I'm pretty sure I'd have emigrated to avoid this scenario but Kate is made of sterner stuff. There was a great deal about Kate that I could identify with, but if she thinks she's old at 40, I can assure her, she's in for a hell of a shock over the next 25 years. </p><p>Many of her diary entries echo what many women have thought and I can imagine sitting down with Kate to have a right old rant about a million different things, laughing all the while. By the end of our conversation, we'd both be feeling good and if everyone agreed with us, the world would be a more sensible place. I'd definitely emigrate to avoid the hens' cruise though.</p><p>Hayley promised me a lighthearted read which was exactly what I wanted after weeks of lockdown 6, and it didn't disappoint. Yes, it's frothy but I've always been partial to <a href="http://lindsaybamfield.blogspot.com/2010/09/literary-pudding-in-praise-of-books.html">literary pudding </a> And for the record this one does win a prize for sheer fun.</p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-29013816242145013952021-07-28T03:34:00.006+01:002021-07-28T06:45:41.109+01:00I Will Not Write....<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OjTupinrTYA/WWnbj97RssI/AAAAAAAABX0/e4iL-arnESgxFZW4YfkJTc1V568NVItYACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/P1080153.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OjTupinrTYA/WWnbj97RssI/AAAAAAAABX0/e4iL-arnESgxFZW4YfkJTc1V568NVItYACPcBGAYYCw/s320/P1080153.JPG" width="320" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whatever I write
in future, no matter the genre, the format, I vow to never write the following unless it is integral to the plot which is highly unlikely.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I will not write:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">W</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;">omen</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;"> who, when
they are a weeny bit stressed about something, will be unable to eat, (and will fortuitously lose that stubborn pound/kilo or two.) My characters will <s>probably</s>
definitely eat more.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 3.3pt; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Someone who orders
a meal but does not eat it. Unless the restaurant has to be evacuated for some
dramatic reason. Or as a statement. My main character in my
almost-certainly-never-to-be-published comedy novel took such action. When a
date commented that she was overweight and ‘should do something about it,’ she
did. She ordered an expensive meal then walked out leaving him with the bill.
As you do. She then went home and finished of a tub of Ben & Jerry’s, but
still, she took action.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 3.3pt; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A character who will have a lengthy conversation with
someone who is about to get in a train that is ready to leave the station. (How
do directors in film and TV dramas get away with this nonsense?)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I will not use the
word ‘thrum’ which as writer, editor and reviewer, <a href="https://twitter.com/becblakeney">Bec Blakeney </a>pointed out on Twitter, is now
ubiquitous. She wondered whether every Australian editor was secretly adding
it as an in-joke but it’s been in the last three UK novels I’ve read too. I think it's been in every book I've read that was published in the past couple of years so it's definitely in some of the books mentioned below.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Continuing my appreciation of Australian authors, here are my latest good reads.</span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Mark Brandi:
Wimmera<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Mark Brandi: The
Rip <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Sue Williams:
Elizabeth and Elizabeth<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Kate Grenville: A
Room Made of Leaves<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Pamela Hart: Digging
Up Dirt<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Craig Silvey:
Honeybee<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Tony Birch: The
White Girl<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Liz Byrski: The
Woman Next Door<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Gary Disher: Peace<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Allie Reynolds:
Shiver<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Helen Garner: The
Spare Room<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Chris Hammer:
Scrublands<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Molly Murn: Heart
of the Grass Tree<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-20253430976889570912021-06-08T04:11:00.000+01:002021-06-08T04:11:03.032+01:00The School by Brendan James Murray - a brief review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">I was fortunate enough
to be sent a copy of </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">The School</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> by the author owing to retweeting his
promotional tweet. A review wasn’t part of the deal but here it is.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eeKtBglo6mU/YL7eHlfoVOI/AAAAAAAAZ90/-mjueWl8iT8sbtlrKhXnfivORjhbJkhRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s270/Schhol.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="177" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eeKtBglo6mU/YL7eHlfoVOI/AAAAAAAAZ90/-mjueWl8iT8sbtlrKhXnfivORjhbJkhRQCLcBGAsYHQ/w262-h400/Schhol.png" width="262" /></a></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Like the author, I've worked with many children, although my relationships with them were
usually far more fleeting than a teacher’s and I’ve worked with very many
teachers. Teachers of varying age and length of time in the profession,
teachers of different subjects, they had one thing in common – a voice problem!
Hence my sessions with them.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As we talked about
the factors contributing to their voice issues, I got to know the frustrations
and the stresses that many of them encountered, whether from pupils or the
system (more often the latter) but sometimes I was lucky enough to hear the
joys too. The latter were nearly all from the teachers who obviously loved
teaching, were passionate about their responsibility to their pupils and, it
seemed to me, were the most effective teachers, good teachers. Sadly, I
couldn’t say that about them all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Brendan James
Murray is one of those passionate teachers. (Hopefully without a voice
problem.) He listens to his pupils, endeavours to understand why those who
demonstrate challenging behaviours do so. He aims to encourage not only an
understanding of literature (his subject) or even a love of literature but
learning about emotions and life. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His writing is
beautiful – often poetic prose – as he recounts the stories of some of his students
and the significant lessons he has learned from them as well as those he has
imparted, or tried to impart, to them. He looks back to his own schooldays to
inform how he teaches. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The reader shares the journeys some of his students made
through an education system that is baffling to me (being from the UK) and frustrating in its inequalities for many of its teachers and students. Many students came from families who had
their own struggles. Some students were to face difficulties most young people
never even need to think about and as I read, I desperately wanted the best for all of them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Many schools have
fantastic resources but the best resource is inspired and inspiring teachers. The School has
several. That some students recognised this was demonstrated by their arranging
for their favourite teacher’s favourite author to phone him! (You’ll have to
read the book to find out who it was.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The School</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> is a book I didn’t want to put down but neither did I
want to race through it – as it deserved time and thought. Brendan James Murray’s
writing is a joy to read. <i>The School</i> taught me something, made me think, made me laugh and made me cry which
is about as good as a book can get. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /></div>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-52716603150323731882021-05-20T03:01:00.003+01:002021-12-04T04:01:01.001+00:00One hundred years ago... <p><i>One hundred years ago today, my mother was born about sixty miles from where I now live. She had a happy childhood in the small market town but when she was almost ten, her parents decided to return to Britain. The following is an extract of a longer piece she wrote when she was about fifteen as a typing assignment about her trip to England. </i></p><p>May 1931</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mAnkcWeiIVs/YKXBmkjoTAI/AAAAAAAAZ8g/0Uj1EN_51ME5AQqEfeCh-06UmTV_glojQCLcBGAsYHQ/s538/Image%2B%252821%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="421" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mAnkcWeiIVs/YKXBmkjoTAI/AAAAAAAAZ8g/0Uj1EN_51ME5AQqEfeCh-06UmTV_glojQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Image%2B%252821%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aboard SS Demosthenes </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB">At last the time
came to say goodbye and we took the train to Melbourne. As we lived 60 miles from here, I had
never seen a ship close to, so of course I was quite impressed when we came on
to the dock and found the big steamer awaiting us. I went on board feeling very
important and we were shown the way to our cabin by a steward. I was asked if I
would like to sleep on the top bunk but refused as I was afraid it might give
way in the night; I didn't seem to realise at the time that if this did happen
the person sleeping beneath would have come off worse than the one on top.</span> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB">Several friends
came to see us off, they were able to come on to the boat and when it was time
for us to sail a bell was rung – all visitors off – and the gangway was taken
up. Costers on the quay were selling rolls of streamers which people on
deck threw to their friends on the quay and vice versa, the passengers holding
one end, the friend on the quay the other, and as the ship drew away the roll
would be unwound until it reached its full length when it would break in two,
each person holding an end. It was supposed to be bad luck if the streamer was
dropped. It was a very jolly to see these streamers of many hues waving in the
breeze.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The gong sounded
for dinner and I had my meal first meal aboard. After looking around the boat we
returned to our cabin and unpacked the things we should need for the night and I
had to go to bed. It was difficult getting to sleep that first night as
it was terribly noisy on board while we were being towed out of the port, until
we got right out to sea.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB">In the morning my father took me up to the
deck; it was a cold dull morning and several people were taking their daily
walk round and round the deck. I soon began to feel rather weak on the legs,
and feeling cold and miserable crept back to the cabin where I spent the best
part of the next three days, alternately tucked up in a chair with a big rug
round my knees out on the lower deck, looking very green and feeling anything
but well, wondering how on earth people could dash around as if they were on
land. However the sea-sickness soon
passed and I was running around with the rest, and when new passengers embarked
at other ports I used to think how funny they looked sitting in arm chairs on
deck with green faces looking pictures of misery, forgetting I had looked the
same. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB">I soon palled up with other young people
aboard and we had a lovely time exploring the ship from engine room to bridge
and most of what lay in between, making friends with the various stewards and
in general enjoying ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span>When
we had been about three days out from Fremantle my father who had gone up on deck
first thing, came down to tell us that we had turned around. He had noticed the
sun was rising in at the opposite end of the boat from usual. Others had
noticed the same thing and we wondered what was wrong. We learned that a fire
had broken out in the hold where the coal was stored. Several hundred tons of
burning coal were shovelled overboard during the night. Actually the position
was far more serious than they allowed the passengers to know at the time,
although we saw that the life-boats were prepared and swing out on davits for
lowering if required, each fitted out with a barrel of drinking water,
biscuits, a baling-out can, lamp, oars and other necessary things. We were all
given life-jacket drill and told to which boat we must go if the alarm sounded.
Fortunately the life-boats were not required as after we had turned back for 36
hours the fire was extinguished thanks to the bravery of the stokers, some of
whom volunteered to go down to fight the fire; we saw them being brought up to
the ship’s hospital being overcome by fumes below. When the fire was safely out
it was decided unnecessary to go back to Fremantle after all, we resumed our
course to Durban arriving four days late.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">We had several
sorts of entertainment on board. Concerts were held in the dining room,
passengers taking part, we found there was quite a bit of talent on board. We
usually ended up with community singing which always went down well. Sports
were also very popular. There was skipping race for the children and one girl of about 12
skipped up to 1,000 and seemed quite capable of going on but they stopped her
when she reached this mark. Some evenings we used to have films up on the deck.
Music was provided by a gramophone with a loudspeaker but as they had a limited number of records, there were certain songs we were absolutely
sick of by the time the journey was over. Another popular entertainment was
Fancy Dress Balls. People dressed up as all sorts of things.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">Sometimes there was a cry of ‘Whales,
whales!’ and we rushed to the side of the boat to see them but were
always informed that they were not whales but porpoises, very similar to the
whale but not so large. We often saw flying fish too. They are quite small but able to leap out of the water and take long skimming flights to escape their
enemies.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB">The heat was often very great at night and
some of us slept on the hatch-ways on the lower deck. We never had it very rough at sea although there were occasions when the waves swept over the sides
so that anyone standing at the edge of the boat would get drenched, causing
much amusement to other passengers. I recall fiddles, boards along tables to
prevent crockery flying off.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">The food was not terribly good on the boat
although there was plenty of it and quite a variety, but we had rather too many
salads, pies, rissoles made out of left overs which we did not always fancy. At
dinner at night there was always a very posh sounding pudding on the menu but
this would always turn out to be sponge pudding, with a different flavour or
fruit in it. Sometimes we had chicken which was a treat, also ice-cream and
fresh fruit as dessert.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><a name="_Hlk62834760"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></a><a name="_Hlk62834699"><span lang="EN-GB">Most of the adults nearly went mad at the sight of the White Cliffs of Dover but at that time they did not mean much to me, </span></a><span lang="EN-GB">although I dare say I too, would be more thrilled now. </span>We came into the Thames on Sunday and anchored there until next
morning. It was a typical English day, grey skies and drizzly rain, although it
was summer, the so say sunny month of June, giving us anything but a cheery
welcome, and it seems to me it has been drizzling ever since. We docked at
Tilbury at breakfast time the next morning. <a name="_Hlk62834699"><span lang="EN-GB">The adults were too excited to eat but I sat solidly though each
course, seeing no reason why I should miss a good breakfast just because we had
arrived at England. </span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>My siblings and I grew up with these tales and I recall her telling us that during the fire on the boat, she
was very concerned that her teddy might get burnt. She didn’t consider the rest of her parents’ belongings. She also recalled someone died on board
and had a burial at sea. She was very keen to go and see what happened but
her mother was quite shocked and said children would not be at the service,
Afterwards she learnt that many of the children aboard did go and was furious at having had to miss it. She celebrated her tenth birthday on board but I don't know whether this was really celebrated in any way.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i>My mother died just over four years ago and I greatly miss not being able to tell her about my experience of living in the country of her birth and asking her more questions about hers. So many questions. </i></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-58589630417105120502021-04-06T00:15:00.001+01:002022-10-03T10:40:45.714+01:00The Second Blue Dress<div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sk5j5Q7Efx0/YD8RTEea10I/AAAAAAAAZ3Q/cHkFCKkS_wEV9cm4wQIu6x_3Oa4afxR7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1303/Dress%2BYou%2BUp.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1303" data-original-width="843" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sk5j5Q7Efx0/YD8RTEea10I/AAAAAAAAZ3Q/cHkFCKkS_wEV9cm4wQIu6x_3Oa4afxR7ACLcBGAsYHQ/w259-h400/Dress%2BYou%2BUp.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>Back in October 2020, I posted <a href="http://lindsaybamfield.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-first-blue-dress.html">The First Blue Dress</a> about my story published in UK. Here is news of the second blue dress in the story that I wrote when I was staying in <a href="http://lindsaybamfield.blogspot.com/search?q=st+kilda">St Kilda </a> back in 2018. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">(That month in St Kilda was also the subject of a story which was shortlisted in a competition held by St Kilda Historical Society last year.)</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">I think most writers like some of their stories more than others, and this is one I'm particularly fond of, so I was delighted when it was accepted for publication. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">'Second Hand Rose,' is published by New Lit Salon Press in the USA in its new anthology <i>Dress You Up</i> edited by Brian Centrone. </div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><div class="separator"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMTblMrWQE4/YFQct39l-sI/AAAAAAAAZ5A/fp8Tfixls4QlmVXXNrlc4RRGma1XPevpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1971/Dress%2BYou%2BUp.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1971" data-original-width="1431" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMTblMrWQE4/YFQct39l-sI/AAAAAAAAZ5A/fp8Tfixls4QlmVXXNrlc4RRGma1XPevpQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Dress%2BYou%2BUp.jpg" /></a>Whether, like a friend of mine, we order our clothes online in batches of several of the same thing, because we hate shopping, or we linger in department stores or tiny boutiques to find just the right garment or we make our own clothes, we all have a relationship with clothing and accessories. This collection brings these relationships to life and I enjoyed reading every single contribution. </div><div class="separator"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator"><span style="text-align: center;">The anthology comprises twelve stories about a fashion item: there's a dress with hidden pockets, a jacket for wearing to heavy metal concerts, a statement bag, the wrong kind of school bag, a second hand dress, a wedding dress, a spectacular orange dress, a dress that billows like Marilyn Monroe's, a short hemline, a 19th century dress, a dress that's bought by the wrong person and a scarf that holds a special memory. </span></div><div class="separator"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vLCoc5ntmis/YFRkJwoFO3I/AAAAAAAAZ5g/NWLGS9_OQPYVS-Ae4UytIjYZyJlwLzFUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_0711.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vLCoc5ntmis/YFRkJwoFO3I/AAAAAAAAZ5g/NWLGS9_OQPYVS-Ae4UytIjYZyJlwLzFUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_0711.JPG" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div class="separator">My story was based on a real photo of my sister and me, where she (pictured seated) is wearing a dress similar to that in the story. I don't think I ever wore it, although many of my clothes were hand-me-downs, but the rest of the story is pure fiction! <br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">The pandemic caused some delays in the anthology coming to life, but the editor, the lovely Brian Centrone, kept the contributors in the loop with emails about its progress. It's worth the wait!</div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--RT7W4jrT-s/YFQdzF1OaGI/AAAAAAAAZ5Q/QJiY41lcJEEP7I-NJUM8Q1uI5NKpwjqoQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/S%2BHand%2BRose.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1244" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--RT7W4jrT-s/YFQdzF1OaGI/AAAAAAAAZ5Q/QJiY41lcJEEP7I-NJUM8Q1uI5NKpwjqoQCLcBGAsYHQ/w194-h320/S%2BHand%2BRose.jpg" width="194" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1010" height="464" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h0KCNJF0IIw/X3Q5EzBJuyI/AAAAAAAAZr4/I0rJlDcVV0sd8HozK2rT99xb3DOe9F4SACLcBGAsYHQ/w593-h464/Screenshot%2B%252815%2529.png" width="593" /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-57767655495775978772021-03-16T09:46:00.001+00:002021-03-17T05:20:12.675+00:00The Joy and Disappointment of a Short-listing.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eMn5fl0B_DA/YFAuXgoyGgI/AAAAAAAAZ4U/8OfWMCePnJEaL_ROy4lUKCfHgfVn4yUKQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="265" height="229" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eMn5fl0B_DA/YFAuXgoyGgI/AAAAAAAAZ4U/8OfWMCePnJEaL_ROy4lUKCfHgfVn4yUKQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div>I often enter a monthly competition, mentioned <a href="http://lindsaybamfield.blogspot.com/2021/01/furious-fiction.html">here</a> which I understand usually attracts over a thousand entries. There is one winner who receives a cash prize, a few shortlisted entries whose stories are published online and a list of long-listers. There is no published longlist followed by the shortlist, followed by the winner; it's all announced on the same day. (Presumably the winner is notified individually.) In the nineteen times I've entered I have been longlisted twice. That felt pretty good. I was not expecting to get anywhere so those two listings were a nice surprise. <br /><p></p><p>But when I make a long-list with the short-list to be announced in a few days or weeks, I can't help feeling a smidgeon of hope that my entry will inch further up the ranks. Sometimes it does, sometimes not. But once I've hit a short-list that hope - which realistically should slide down because after all, only three will be placed - sneaks up a bit higher. Maybe, just maybe, I'll make the top three. Or even, could I even dare to think it, I might win. </p><p>I hate that feeling of anticipation. Even though I tell myself not to get my hopes up, some tiny hope insists on lurking. Then of course it's usually dashed. Although one time when I did win a competition, I didn't even spot my name on the winning list and it wasn't until I opened my individual email from the organiser that I realized I'd won!</p><p>But a short-listing isn't bad going. In the last year I've made four shortlists. One went on to be Highly Commended. </p><p>My most recent short-listing was with my second novel (the first remains unpublished) which I entered into the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Prize. This novel was started many years ago and was put away in my computer's 'Out of Sight Because It's Terrible' drawer after receiving some feedback from a peer critiquer that was so negative I lost faith in it. I wrote a post about it <a href="http://lindsaybamfield.blogspot.com/2017/05/have-you-found-your-ideal-readers.html">here</a>. It came at a time that was difficult and I didn't have the energy to lick my wounds and get on with saying 'I don't have to listen to your opinions.'</p><p>I eventually picked the MS up and carried on faffing about with it but it was the Melbourne lockdown that made me really get on and complete it. I entered it into the competition. I will be receiving some feedback on it which I am looking forward to but also slightly dreading. </p><p>But this little success has given me to believe that my MS isn't a complete waste of time. That although I know I like it, that others might like reading it too. That it has some merit and that I must polish it a little more and attempt to get it out into the wide world again. Whether I succeed or not is another matter.</p><p>Anyway, time to move on and get ready to welcome the box of kittens. If they'd consider bringing some chocolate with them, that would go down very well indeed.</p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-69501377057095825222021-02-21T00:31:00.005+00:002021-02-21T00:33:46.866+00:00An Online Literary Festival. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lgpV99bPuUE/YC96f0XnVzI/AAAAAAAAZ0w/uHtVPemghI095F-sOvug9wUQfhKGNn_FACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/swwvfestival.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lgpV99bPuUE/YC96f0XnVzI/AAAAAAAAZ0w/uHtVPemghI095F-sOvug9wUQfhKGNn_FACLcBGAsYHQ/w193-h200/swwvfestival.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>This past week, some of it in a snap lockdown, has seen me spending a lot of time on my sofa or in my garden chair (the temperature has been hitting 30 for the past few days.) I've watched a good number of sessions offered by The Society of Women Writers Victoria in their For The Love of Writing Festival, celebrating their fiftieth year. The opening day was to be in person at The Library at The Dock, which I was looking forward to attending but the lockdown meant that too had to be wholly online. As the event was being filmed for those who couldn't attend in person, the transition to online was seamless. Except we didn't get to sample the lovely celebration cake made by one of the members!<div><br /><p></p><p>Fifty events provided plenty of choice from early morning exercises for writers who spend hours sitting at their computers to hints and tips on getting published, bi-lingual writers talking about writing in different languages and how this affects their work, writing for young people, writing poetry, memoir, illustrating books and of course plenty of author events. </p><p>There was even an online cookery lesson followed by a food writing (and eating) discussion. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LvpIvKk0pXU/YDBrx2_4bfI/AAAAAAAAZ1M/-U9ZjV5B5mIAOx2pZLm5KyZKZaBYtI5QgCLcBGAsYHQ/s346/otab-250.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="250" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LvpIvKk0pXU/YDBrx2_4bfI/AAAAAAAAZ1M/-U9ZjV5B5mIAOx2pZLm5KyZKZaBYtI5QgCLcBGAsYHQ/w144-h200/otab-250.jpg" width="144" /></a></div>I couldn't attend all the events but I will be able to catch up on some I missed as they were all filmed and links will be available for a short time to ticket holders. <p></p><p>For me the highlights included hearing keynote speaker Rosalie Ham talk about her writing, Kate Leeming's incredible cycling expeditions, from across Siberia, around Africa, around and into the interior of Australia and her plans to cross Antarctica. <br /></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I enjoyed the presentation by Madwomen, Bridgette Burton
and Christina
Costigan, who set up an independent theatre company, Baggage Productions, and I was fascinated by Sue Smethurst's talk, Why Truth is
Stranger and
Better than Fiction, about her non-fiction books including <i>The Freedom Circus</i>, the story of her husband's grandparents <span style="background-color: white;">death-defying act to escape the Nazis and start a new life in Austral</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ia.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IqFXEZDmyAI/YDBuj5LVzGI/AAAAAAAAZ1o/3nRjMcvlwic-7P5PFNNIMmJM_KcVLxWugCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/SueS%2BFreedom%2Bcircus.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IqFXEZDmyAI/YDBuj5LVzGI/AAAAAAAAZ1o/3nRjMcvlwic-7P5PFNNIMmJM_KcVLxWugCLcBGAsYHQ/w150-h200/SueS%2BFreedom%2Bcircus.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pip Williams talking about <i>The Dictionary of Lost Words</i>, which I read last year and nominated as one of my top reads (along with thousands of other people I suspect) was fascinating. Pip told us how, as dyslexic child, using dictionaries was a nightmare for her! Now she owns a copy of the first volume of <i>The Oxford English Dictionary</i> minus the famous word - bondmaiden - which is the basis of her wonderful novel. </span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The talk with Lucinda Hawksley and doyenne of theatre and cinema, Miriam Margolyes, on Dickens' Women, both fictional and real, was informative and great fun with Miriam doing impromptu performances from her stage show of Sairey Gamp, Miss Havisham and Miss Wade. The audience was very disappointed to hear that Miriam would not be doing another live tour of Dickens' Women.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-color: white; float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtnjWCRY82c/YDGncBCY2_I/AAAAAAAAZ10/X7FPprfoW4M01TbQyvGTnlUfSzNCkIgIACLcBGAsYHQ/s688/Oliver_Jessie-Traill.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="457" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtnjWCRY82c/YDGncBCY2_I/AAAAAAAAZ10/X7FPprfoW4M01TbQyvGTnlUfSzNCkIgIACLcBGAsYHQ/w133-h200/Oliver_Jessie-Traill.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table>Susanna Fullerton, President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, gave a pre-recorded lecture on Jane Austen which was full of interesting insights. I've studied Jane Austen and her works quite a bit but learned plenty of new information. <br /><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jo Oliver's talk about her biography of artist, Jessie Trail, published last year was another highlight. She traced Jessie's life, career and travels from when she met artist, Tom Roberts, in Mentone, near where I live now, and also mentions when she visited him in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, near where I used to live! </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All in all, it's been a busy and stimulating week and even without the lockdown until Wednesday, I admit I wouldn't have wandered far from my sofa or garden chair!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">See here for information about <a href="http://www.swwvic.org.au/">The Society of Women Writers Victoria</a></div><p></p><p><br /></p></div>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-25786336894474154202021-01-27T04:12:00.004+00:002021-11-12T02:32:35.610+00:00Furious Fiction. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mZaQ68Hra-U/YBDnv2OrYBI/AAAAAAAAZy8/8uYYKyIND8k219yt9ZnSQ95h2obvadaXgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="279" height="208" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mZaQ68Hra-U/YBDnv2OrYBI/AAAAAAAAZy8/8uYYKyIND8k219yt9ZnSQ95h2obvadaXgCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div>On the first Friday of every month The Australia Writers Centre runs a flash fiction competition. <p></p><p>Each has a set of criteria and writers have a maximum of 55 hours to write up to 500 words and submit their story. Sometimes I just can't come up with anything, other months I manage to get something in. </p><p>This January the criteria spoke volumes to me. Reading of the appalling numbers of Covid-19 in the UK swamping the NHS including the hospital group where I worked and many of my former colleagues still do, this story almost wrote itself. The fact that the first Friday of January was also the 1st of January was significant. </p><p>The criteria:</p><ul style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #231f20; font-family: "Open Sans", "Open Sans", sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Each story had to begin at sunrise.</span></span></li><li style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Each <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">story had to use the words SIGNATURE, PATIENT, BICYCLE. </span></span>(Longer variations were permitted.)</li><li style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-top: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Each story had to include a character who has to make a CHOICE.</span></li></ul><div>I was quite furious as I wrote my first Furious Fiction of the year. I didn't win, or get shortlisted but did make it to the longlist, which for a competition that attracts hundreds of entries, apparently represents about the top 3% so I'm pretty happy! This story is for all those at the frontline of the NHS. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia;">Remember The Best Thing<span style="font-size: 12pt;">.</span></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Today’s best thing
will probably be the sunrise. You left home in the dark, to pedal your old
bicycle to work because your partner needs the car. You left early anticipating
the hill. You surprised yourself by not needing to dismount and push it. As you
neared the top, breathing hard, you saw the magnificent sunrise – shepherd’s
warning maybe – but beautiful none the less.</span></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You have two
critical patients in resus. Both need to transfer to Intensive Care for
ventilation. There’s only one bed available. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You’re fed up with
people who claim doctors think they’re God. How many times have you heard the
tired old joke about the difference between God and a consultant? But it’s down
to you now to choose which one gets the ventilator. And you know that later
today there’ll be more who won’t even get a 50% chance. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">At the end of each
difficult day –there hasn’t been any other for months– you think of the best
thing that happened. Sometimes it’s just that you actually got to drink a
decent cup of coffee during your shift. Usually if there’s coffee at all, it’s
the crap from the vending machine or a tasteless brew made from the last congealing
granules in the bottom of an old jar in the staff room. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This morning, you
stopped by the pond to take a breather, to gaze and admire. You revelled in the
glorious feeling of freedom. London has its moments. You took a deep breath and
watched it plume on the frosty air as you exhaled. You heard birdsong – there’s
hardly any traffic on New Year bank holiday mornings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As you pushed off
for the last leg down the hill to the hospital, you envisaged the state of the
Emergency Department. There’d be drunks sleeping it off from last night’s
revels, cuts and bruises from alcohol induced falls, wounds from fights. You’ve
seen it all before. But this year there’s the added factor. How many of them
are now positive? If there’s a demographic that won’t be responsibly socially
distancing, it’s those crowding into the centre of London to see in the New Year
with the help of alcohol. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As you approached
the hospital, you counted the ambulances stacking up. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And now, kitted
out in full PPE – which, while vital, only impedes the normal examinations you
need to make, you have to choose. An elderly, but previously fit man, tested
positive, gasping for breath. Or the young reveller, a near-lethal
cocktail of drugs and alcohol in his system, with severely depressed respiration.
He has a history – he frequents the department. You’ve revived him on more than
one occasion. He’s only alive because of your previous interventions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<div><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>You make your
decisions based on clinical evidence. You are not God. But you wish you were so
everybody would get what they so desperately need. You remember that one good
thing happened today. Your signature on the form denotes you’ve made your
choice. You trust it’s the right one.</span>.</span></div><div><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-49886826356259446182020-12-28T00:04:00.002+00:002021-02-07T04:12:24.695+00:00This Year's Reading in Lockdown. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M6DlXvzkvlI/X91M5CNr9tI/AAAAAAAAZxA/5gWVwpQGthgA1XbPuyBVVg2zYtpGiQ0lACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/P1100373.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="254" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M6DlXvzkvlI/X91M5CNr9tI/AAAAAAAAZxA/5gWVwpQGthgA1XbPuyBVVg2zYtpGiQ0lACLcBGAsYHQ/w319-h254/P1100373.JPG" width="319" /></a></div>Like many of us, my reading increased this year, eight months of which were in some degree of lockdown. When I totted up the books I'd read I was surprised to find it fewer than I'd anticipated, coming in at 70 although that includes the wonderfully mighty tome of <i>A Suitable Boy. </i>I'm so glad I read it before the drama series popped up on Netflix, which I loved, although I felt Lata's mother was not so large as life as in the book. <p></p><p>I wasn't able to travel using my passport or, for several weeks, venture further than 5 km from my home, but reading took me to many parts of Australia, New Zealand, India, United States, UK, France, Sweden, Israel, Afghanistan, Kenya, Nigeria with brief visits to Thailand and Indonesia, Ethiopia and Brazil as well as in transit from Syria to UK. </p><p>Most of my reading was set in recent years but I also travelled back to the early nineteenth century, late nineteenth century, the early twentieth century, 1920s, the 60s and even did a bit of time travel back and forth and into the future. </p><p>My reading has been largely catching up with the dozens of fabulous Australian authors I'd not come across before, indeed, some of my reading being debut novels just out. Women authors far outweighed males in my choices, not because I was aiming to read women, (or avoid men,) but because their books appealed to me. </p><p>I've also read many more short stories and flash fiction than usual in online journals. While I read some brilliant flash fiction and short accounts of people's Covid lockdown experiences on <a href="https://100wordsofsolitude.wordpress.com/">100wordsofsolitude</a> and <a href="https://cabinetofheed.com/stream-of-consciousness-special-issue%e2%80%a2-pull-open-a-drawer/">The Cabinet of Heed's stream-of-consciousness-special</a> (and had a piece of mine published in the latter) I tended to avoid these after a while, opting for non-related themes. </p><p>Here are the twelve books That came top in my enjoyment rating.</p><p>Vikram Seth: <i>A Suitable Boy</i></p><p>Pip Williams: <i>The Dictionary of Lost Words</i></p><p>Leah Kaminsky: <i>The Hollow Bones</i></p><p>Leah Kaminsky: <i>The Waiting Room</i></p><p>Charity Norman: <i>The Secrets of Strangers</i></p><p>Christina Dalcher: <i>Q</i></p><p>Delia Owens: <i>Where The Crawdads Sing</i></p><p>Tara June Winch: <i>The Yield</i></p><p>Leah Purcell: <i>The Drover's Wife</i></p><p>Inga Simpson: <i>Where The Trees Were</i></p><p>Craig Silvey: <i>Jasper Jones</i></p><p>Joanna Nell: <i>The Great Escape From Woodlands Nursing Home</i></p><p>And in case the worst happens and we get another lockdown, I still have <i>War and Peace</i> on my shelf and I was given an epic 933 pager for Christmas, <i>Shantaram </i>by Gregory David Roberts. Let's hope I can read them without any constraints around me, although neither will be my first choice to read on the train as they won't fit in my bag.</p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-76342402337019230892020-11-24T00:12:00.005+00:002020-11-24T05:08:42.795+00:00A Very Special Book - Animals Make Us Human<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hv5q8gyNX9E/X7w-WmUfOJI/AAAAAAAAZvU/TIlYCGLF6VwkidBLmseG4JQ0vXrZ8_sUQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1592" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hv5q8gyNX9E/X7w-WmUfOJI/AAAAAAAAZvU/TIlYCGLF6VwkidBLmseG4JQ0vXrZ8_sUQCLcBGAsYHQ/w312-h400/image.png" width="312" /></a></div>Leah Kaminsky, author of two excellent novels, who I follow on Twitter began tweeting about a forthcoming book <i>Animal Make Us Human </i>that she and fellow author, Meg Keneally were editing. Comprising a number of essays about animal encounters accompanied by beautiful photographs, the book was conceived to raise money for the Australian Marine Conservation Society and Australian Wildlife Conservancy. <p></p><p>The plight of Australian wildlife came to prominent attention almost a year when wildfires swept through much of Australia. The loss of 173 human lives was devastating. This shocking number was massively outstripped by the loss of wildlife. An estimated 3 billion mammals, reptiles, birds were decimated. Retiles and amphibians were the hardest hit.</p><p>The desire to help raise money for the important work that conservation agencies were doing to help animals injured or orphaned by the fires along side general conservation projects resulted in the idea for the book and the call went out for contributions that soon came pouring in. </p><p>Australia's unique wildlife has been under threat since colonisation. Massive loss of habitat and introduction of non-native species as well as hunting of animals considered to be a threat to farming has wreaked havoc on Australia's fauna for over two centuries. People are increasingly urbanized and dislocated from nature. </p><p>My own knowledge of Australian flora and fauna is limited - something I found quite hard when I first came to live here last year. Although no expert on British wildlife, I could identify a number of trees, wild flowers, birds and butterflies. Arriving in Australia I was surrounded by plants and trees new to me. Staying in a Melbourne AirB&B three years ago, I woke to some exotic birdsong. Internet research told me it was a magpie. So different from the British magpies that rattled away in my North London garden ash tree, I wasn't sure if I could believe the information, but observation soon showed me it was indeed the large Australian magpie.</p><p>The first bird I saw in the tiny garden of my new house just over a year ago was a - blackbird. I'm very pleased to hear his beautiful song as he sits in a tree-top and sings his heart out but I confess I was hoping for a uniquely Australian bird. They soon arrived. Not many, but so far the garden has hosted red wattlebirds, a very noisy little wattlebird, butcherbirds, a pied currawong, (seen and heard only once) annoying little common mynahs (non-natives) and nearby I see and hear beautiful rainbow lorikeets, magpies, magpie-larks, galahs, sulphur crested cockatoos and, once, a sighting of a beautiful blue superb fairy wren. Venturing further with my sister, an expert birder, I saw and learned to identify a number more, although she saw far more than I did!</p><p>Back in my garden, skinks and huge woodlice hide beneath stones and golden orb spiders spin webs. A few butterflies flit around (not yet all identified as they will not keep still) and bees visit my lavender. </p><p>Encounters with mammals have been more limited. The lettuce and tomato-seedling eating possums bouncing over my roof at night did not endear themselves to me, but now my tomatoes are flourishing in a cage and my lettuce garden lives in a hanging basket we are on better terms. Sometimes at night we examine each other through my window.</p><p>Before lockdown, I met the famous bats/flying foxes of Kew (who now have their own Twitter account after a very nasty local MP suggested exterminating them.) On our walk in Cranborne Gardens, my sister and I encountered a large wallaby, and on our trip on Puffing Billy the train stopped for an echidna to take its time to cross the line. I've encountered an Australian fur-seal having a bask in the sun on a hot day and enjoyed seeing pods of dolphins on a cold grey day while walking the Bay Trail. Now we are able to get out and about I hope my wildlife encounters will significantly increase.</p><p>Reading this beautiful book, my knowledge and appreciation of Australia's wildlife is developing rapidly. I've learned of species I'd not been aware of and am learning more about their habitat and nature but this isn't a text book. It's a book of wildlife encounters, some by experts who are studying animal behaviour, others by writers, many of whom have written books I've mentioned on previous blog posts, who have enjoyed unexpected relationships with the animals who live in their gardens or local environment. </p><p>This important book is also a call to help make us all more aware of the plight of Australian wildlife. I for one don't want my granddaughters to read about animals that once lived in the country of their birth but are now extinct.</p><p>This is a book to dip in and out of, to savour and to come back to again and again. It's fast becoming one of my precious books. </p><p><i>Animal Make Us Human,</i> published by Penguin Life 2020 is widely available in bookshops. </p><p><br /></p><p> .</p><p><br /></p>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-79884962337461513972020-10-22T00:53:00.000+01:002020-10-22T00:53:20.729+01:00The First Blue Dress<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ddvqcLhQFyI/X5DGKhCB6gI/AAAAAAAAZtg/z4evLhANKQYspD-no_wgO6svuFXIehWNACLcBGAsYHQ/s961/Screenshot%2B%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="723" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ddvqcLhQFyI/X5DGKhCB6gI/AAAAAAAAZtg/z4evLhANKQYspD-no_wgO6svuFXIehWNACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screenshot%2B%25282%2529.png" /></a></div>This week sees the publication of one of my short stories. Another is to be published in the very near future. The two stories are written in different styles and were submitted to different publications at different times and accepted at different times so it wasn't until news of their publication coincided that I realised both stories featured blue dresses. Very different dresses though. One is a dull blue with white spots, which the wearer hates. The other is a beautiful long dress, the colour of bluebells, which the wearer loves but feels might not be suitable for a midweek morning. <p></p><p>A Girl Can Dream is published this week in <i>Yours </i>Magazine (edition 361) in the UK. </p><p>The story, originally titled A Dress Made for Dancing was inspired by a real person I met through my work. Cathy, a wheelchair user also had dysarthria, a speech impairment, as does my story's Cathy. She also had an admirer called Alan but the rest is imaginary. One memory of the real Cathy, which isn't in my story, is how her speech would improve after a vodka and orange or two when we went for a jaunt to the pub. Sadly, it didn't prove to be an efficacious universal therapy tool for speech and language therapists. </p><p>Both Cathy and Alan died many years ago but I deliberately used their names in their memory. I hope they would both approve of the story. </p><p>Having said that, there have been a number of edits to my original story. One or two are fine, but many I hate. I wasn't surprised to see it changed from my first tense to past tense but the number of clichés, including its new title, that are now dotted throughout are horrible. The final sentence too, has been changed into another cliché! My image of Cathy in her beautiful blue dress was a lot more glamorous than the illustration. I wanted my story to show a wheelchair user looking absolutely fabulous, and I think the blue cardigan (which was originally a little shrug) is more like the warm winter cardigan I've been wearing during lockdown than anything Cathy would have chosen! </p><div class="separator"><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-60877875844617487992020-08-05T06:35:00.000+01:002020-08-05T06:39:22.680+01:00Coping with Stage 4 lock-down.<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4vzBsF4Ggcs/XypDD4YIxZI/AAAAAAAAZpA/BlXjLoTjMgQyU45WE0ysVTOu9tw0FfkRwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/20200805_152227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4vzBsF4Ggcs/XypDD4YIxZI/AAAAAAAAZpA/BlXjLoTjMgQyU45WE0ysVTOu9tw0FfkRwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/20200805_152227.jpg" width="400" /></a>I know I'm one of the lucky ones. Stage 4 lock-down was inevitable owing to the soaring rates of Covid-19 here in Melbourne but although I miss seeing friends and family, my income has not been impacted. My daily life has been curtailed but I have enough resources to be productive and creative. My ability to be content relies on seven things: regular conversations with my daughter; reading; writing; taking part in online events (I love Zoom;) streaming films/TV/live theatre events, my solitary walks and my little garden.<br />
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The amount of online events, many of them free, is staggering. I've listened to podcasts of author interviews, attended Zoom book launches, taken part in Zoom writing time and formal writing workshops (the downside here being, of course, not getting to chat to other participants.) As a result I've come across many more Australian authors and inevitably have bought their books. My book purchases have been - ah, rather frequent - in the past five months. (On the other hand I've bought only one tank of petrol during the same time - judging by my recent mileage I won't have to visit a petrol station until next year!)<br />
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I have been a beta reader for someone's debut novel and hope my feedback was helpful. I have a load of other events earmarked for future listening/viewing.<br />
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So what have I been reading? As usual a mix of old and new, authors from many different countries, some bought, some borrowed (I managed a trip to my local library during the brief period it was open) some downloaded. I'm continuing my Australian education so here are my books by Australian authors plus a couple of New Zealanders. Unlike my previous list these are not all set in Australia. There are more awaiting me on my shelves!<br />
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Tabitha Bird: A Lifetime of Impossible Days<br />
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Alice Bishop: A Constant Hum <o:p></o:p></div>
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Emily Brewin: Small Blessings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Liz Byrski: Trip of A Lifetime <o:p></o:p></div>
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Marele Day: Lambs of God<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shirley Hazard: The Transit of Venus<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sally Hepworth: The Family Next Door</div>
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Sally Hepworth: The Mother-in-Law<o:p></o:p></div>
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Leah Kaminsky: The Waiting Room<o:p></o:p></div>
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Leah Kaminsky: The Hollow Bones<o:p></o:p></div>
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Maya Linell: Wildflower Ridge<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fiona Lowe: Home Fires<o:p></o:p></div>
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Liane Moriarty: Truly, Madly, Guilty <o:p></o:p></div>
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Liane Moriarty: The Last Anniversary<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kate Morton: The Shifting Fog<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joanna Nell: The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker <o:p></o:p></div>
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Charity Norman: The Secrets of Strangers</div>
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Stephanie Parker: Josephine’s Garden<o:p></o:p></div>
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Leah Purcell: The Drover’s Wife <o:p></o:p></div>
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Angela Savage: Mother of Pearl <o:p></o:p></div>
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Graeme Simsion: The Rosie Result<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christos Tsiolkas: Damascus<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pip Williams: The Dictionary for Lost Words<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tara June Winch: The Yield<o:p></o:p></div>
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Charlotte Wood: The Weekend<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p>One book, Kate Morton's <i>The Shifting Fog, </i>seemed rather familiar. I realised I had it read back in UK some years ago under a different title - <i>The House at Riverton. </i> It was borrowed from my local community library, and fortunately was well worth a second read before returning it. </o:p></div>
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<o:p>There is one more book to mention, a non-fiction, Jess Hill's Stella Prize 2020 winner <i>See What You Made Me Do</i>, an in-depth investigation detailing domestic abuse. Not the happiest of reading, certainly but an important contribution to understanding another type of pandemic which has sadly increased world-wide during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. </o:p></div>
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<br />Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2001242349470300248.post-7782210690117574252020-06-27T01:39:00.001+01:002020-06-27T01:40:12.301+01:00Where the Sun Always Shines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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At the beginning of the world Coronavirus pandemic, Crystal Kirkham came up with the idea of putting together a free online anthology containing a mix of feelgood poems and short stories to lighten the darkness many people were feeling.<br />
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Included is a story I submitted 'George's Letter' that is based on the story of my grandmother, that my mother told me as a child. I have added bits from my imagination and made a few tweaks but the basics are all true!<br />
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To download a free PDF copy go to:<br />
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<a href="https://kyanitepublishing.com/product/where-the-sun-always-shines/">https://kyanitepublishing.com/product/where-the-sun-always-shines/</a><br />
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<br />Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04631254646368974136noreply@blogger.com2