I was delighted to have three of my short stories published in ‘Water Stories’ a collection of work by writers from the Southern Moreton Bay Islands, produced and edited by Natalie Sprite.

‘Bill’s Blanket’ is a tale sourced from a long ago trip to the centre of Australia and a week in the opal mining town of Coober Pedy. There is a kernel of truth to the tale and I do indeed still have Bill’s Blanket.

‘A Friendship in Three Parts’ tells of a short-lived teenage friendship between myself and Sandy. Thrown together on a cruise ship, we bonded briefly but found our separate ways on returning to reality.

‘The Mahi Mahi’ brings memories of my time in Mombasa and the game fishing I so enjoyed. Mahi mahi is the Australian name for dolphin fish, but in those long ago days, I used the Swahili name of felusi.

My second book of travel stories is now in print and signed copies will be available at the Island Writers Festival on 10th November 2018, held at the Progress Hall, Macleay Island from 10 - 12am.

As Jean-Baptiste Karr said ‘Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’. As always, it’s been far too long since I updated my blog.

In my last post, I mentioned completing my novel ‘Second Chance’. That’s published and selling well. Blue Lil and Paradise Landing continue to attract readers and people are again asking what happens now? I can feel the first tingling of the next Paradise Landing novel but currently I am halfway through another book of travel stories.

I had to travel far and wide to add to the last collection – ‘Turn Right at the Pink Shirt’. In 2017, Guy and I visited Thailand and Myanmar. Both feature in this new book, together with stories from our European trip of 2015 to Italy and Greece, with stopovers in Seoul and London. Closer to home, there are tales of sailing sojourns and family excursions.

As our family increases, I have found joy in the role of grandmother to an ever burgeoning cast of grandchildren. I’m sure they find it difficult to get their little heads around a grandmother who fights fires, scuba dives, has constantly changing hair colour and thinks it essential to dance every day.

Life is not a dress rehearsal.

Here we are racing madly through another year, pausing now and again to celebrate family, friends and another overseas trip.

I am in the process of rehashing my latest novel entitled ‘Second Chance’, which delves further into the lives of Blue Lil and Dallas from ‘Paradise Landing’. After a comprehensive edit from my friend and mentor, Trish Cation, I have my work cut out for me bringing the book up to her high standards.

In my private life, I have been increasingly involved in the Rural Fire Brigade and earlier in the year completed a Crew Leader Course and also a shorter course to run an Evacuation Centre. Living on a small island requires us to pull our weight in the self-sufficiency area and Guy and I try our best to serve the community.

I am delighted to offer paperback editions of two of my books, ‘ Turn Right at the Pink Shirt’ and ‘ Paradise Landing’ for the first time.

A Book Launch Day held on Macleay Island on Friday, 29th April in conjunction with another island author, Patricia Cation, was a tremendous success and a complete sell out. Island musician Mary Veitch opened the launch singing her own songs with guitar accompaniment and we had a wonderful introduction by Desmond Kelly, the well-known author, actor and founding member of our Writers Group. My wonderful husband, Guy Hickey, was MC in his capacity as President of the Macleay Island Progress Association.

Both books will be available at a cost of A$15 each plus postage and packing.

And I will retain the Christmas special on all e-books so if you want to have an electronic version as well as a hard copy, get in while the bargains last.

Hasn’t it been a wonderful year?

Guy and I spent three months in Europe, mainly in Greece and Italy. I’m sure my creative juices will be flowing now we are home and settled back in our island paradise.

One thing that changed on this holiday was my luggage. So often before I have been weighed down by books. I read fast and require a daily top up of reading matter to keep me happy. But this trip saw me purchasing e books for the first time. I downloaded forty books for our time overseas and was able to read most of them in that time. If you are a traveller or even a person who uses their laptop or Ipad frequently, this is definitely the way for the future.

As a Christmas gift to you all, I am offering my two e books ‘Paradise Landing’ and ‘Turn Right at the Pink Shirt’ for the special price of $5.00 each. They are easily purchased through the shopping cart, which is totally secure. They are both an excellent read.

My short story this month is a special children’s Christmas story I wrote for my two eldest grandchildren. I’m looking forward to reading it to them on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas, my friends. May 2016 bring peace and joy to us all.

Just back from a holiday in Europe to hear that Macleay Island Inspirational Writers Group have printed their fourth anthology I was lucky enough to have some of my work included. I will be reading another short story, ‘Path to Redemption’ at the launch on November 20 at the Progress Hall on Macleay Island.

Wow! I entered the recent competition with Stringybark Stories and gained a highly commended for my travel tale about the White Desert in Western Egypt. Buy the anthology online entitled Non Posso

My online book store is selling well. Most people have been attracted to Turn Right at the Pink Shirt, my collection of travel tales. I’m delighted to be able to share these memories with so many people and be warned, there is a second travel book currently being written in the same vein.

If you have any problems with downloading your books, be sure to let me know. I am currently in the process of development an FAQ page to assist those unfamiliar with the process of downloading E-books. Your input will be very helpful.