Readers
Welcome to my Musings for Readers
If you enjoy reading, you’ll find snippets about my favourite books and authors, insights into my own work, special previews and news.
Melbourne Chill to Icelandic Thrill
I’ve recently swapped my summer sandals for woolly socks and winter boots, having returned to Melbourne after time in the Northern Hemisphere. This relocation to chillier climes has reminded me of...
Research, AI and Historical Fiction
For the past eleven months, I’ve been hibernating in my study, working on the latest draft of my second book. I’ve immersed myself in the contrasting worlds of fin-de-siècle Vienna and post-World...
Building Layers
I’m currently working on the latest draft of my second novel, which is a dual timeline set in post-WWI London and fin-de-siècle Vienna, featuring the art and life of Gustav Klimt, and focusing on...
Chasing Your Dreams à la Don Quixote
“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams – this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness – and maddest of all:...
It is Solved by Walking
My mother and I recently strolled through Cloudehill Gardens in Olinda, enjoying the early autumn leaves on maples and liquidambars, water droplets glistening on lamb’s-ear, glazed blue pots filled...
Renewal
A lemon-scented eucalyptus stands in the centre of my Melbourne backyard, towering thirty-five metres over the garden, its foliage filling the air with a tangy citrus scent. When spring arrives, the...
Living Slow
During the past two months, I’ve experienced one of the busiest times of my life. Coordinating an overseas move to repatriate to Australia after sixteen years in Europe, and continuing to work while...
Inspired by Secrets
Inspiration is a fickle creature. It can be abrupt and blatant, experienced through intense life events and relationships, or it can lie buried deep, lurking in the shadows of the past and emerging...
Fuelled by Coffee
From my study, which is located one floor above my kitchen, I can hear the faint click of the coffee machine as it advances through its reheat cycle. It reminds me that, amongst other things, my...