Guided Journals & other stories

Writing About Life

The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing

I’ve been off the blog for far too long (and by the way off the blog isn’t anything like being off the grog) but I’m back on it again because Patrick O’Duffy invited me to contribute to an online writers’ roundabout called the Next Big Thing. Each writer answers ten...

Help! My plot has come unstuck

Help! My plot has come unstuck

 It's 200 years into the future. Fortune SweetSong looks out at this view and...  And I stopped writing because I realised my plot was in trouble. I commenced this writing year really well by starting a new science-fiction novel in Steven Carroll’s master...

Creating Worlds – part 2

I’m consumed with thoughts about world-building because I’m preparing for this Sunday’s panel discussion at the Bayside Literary Festival with Alison Goodman, Jesse Blackadder, Narrelle M Harris and Lindy Cameron. I’ve been reflecting on my own writing process in...

Creating Worlds – part 1

I am busy preparing for a panel discussion at the Bayside Literary Festival. This year’s festival is The Art of Words and – being a speculative fiction writer – I’m involved in a panel about speculation and invention: Creating Worlds: Real and imaginedScotland 1561;...

Continuum – Melbourne’s Science Fiction Convention

Continuum – Melbourne’s Science Fiction Convention

I was lucky enough to be able to participate in Continuum 8 – Melbourne’s science fiction convention. I was at Continuum as a panellist, a reader, a fan and a learner. Learning I loved being in the audience for ‘The Crafty Middle Ages’. I got to listen to...

Page Parlour & The Light Heart of Stone’s Melbourne Launch

Page Parlour The Emerging Writers’ Festival hosts an event called Page Parlour, which is a market place for small independent press and self-publishers. I wandered through Page Parlour in 2011 and this year I had a stall. It was a really fascinating experience and I...