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.
Suspend Your Disbelief
Whenever my husband and I watch movies with a plot relating to a commercial airplane – Sully and Air Force One are favourites – he can’t help whispering in my ear during the movie: “They can’t do...
Perfect Winter Reads
I swapped my sandals for fur-lined boots when I moved with my family from Australia to Europe in 2008 and we began celebrating Christmas in wintertime. During the coldest, darkest days of the year,...
The Scattergun Approach
I’ve been jumping around like a jackrabbit when it comes to reading during the past year. One week I’m delving into The Europeans by Henry James then I’m switching centuries to read about modern-day...
Classics
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read Pride and Prejudice. I discover something new on each reading: a witticism from Elizabeth or a snipe from Mrs Bennett that I hadn’t fully appreciated...
Fiction to Devour
Summer is my season for idleness. I relish the peaceful days and slower pace that summer brings. With regular activities on hiatus, I have time for relaxing in the shade of an umbrella, enjoying...
Architectural Gems: Past and Present
…the tarnished nameplate fixed to the wall: Begijnhof Sint-Catharine. Passing a gatehouse, they emerge into a large courtyard. Brick buildings on all sides rise three-storeys high, each façade...
Learning to Listen
Several years ago, with the aim of increasing my daily steps, I purchased a monthly audiobook subscription. With my trainers laced up and earbuds in place, I strode down the street listening to...
The ENGRAVER in Dutch
While I was writing The Engraver, I imagined most of the characters spoke Dutch to one another. The seventeenth-century protagonist Antonia chattered in Dutch to the family maid as they walked to...
Short and Succinct
I have turned to short stories for my reading fix of late. The long dark days of winter and enforced isolation due to the pandemic sees me wandering around my house, completing tasks while listening...