Published in The Haven·PinnedMember-onlyMy Nan has Better Nails than I do and it’s a Blessing to the WorldTen incidents of purple glitter — My Nan never used to get her nails done. …Humour3 min readHumour3 min read
PinnedMember-onlyHow to Blame Your Parents for Your Irrational FearsGod help me, they should have used the eucalyptus spray — He remembered it, in the way you remember things from childhood, part memory, part memory of the memory… (Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys) I was four. The spider was probably older than me. The spider was probably from the dawn of time. My parents say they played it down when they…Humour3 min readHumour3 min read
PinnedMember-onlyWhat Jellyfish and Your Best Life Have in CommonI had an epiphany this morning, and I think it had more to do with the jellyfish than the coffee. — I’d just flipped the cover of Julia Baird’s Phosphorescence and was gazing at a gelatinous creature glowing on black pages. It took a few moments for me to realise what I was really seeing. Before me was something from the deep and dark, something that had remained secret for centuries…Wonder3 min readWonder3 min read
Jul 14, 2022Member-onlyA Stranger Told Me His Love Story on a Park Bench“I just want someone to write this story down one day.” — Something made an Irishman stop and ask a young woman on a park bench, “Deep in interesting thoughts, are you?” (The white-bearded Sean was, as mentioned, Irish, and thus 100% benign.) I’d probably looked like I was contemplating the meaning of life. I was fairly upset. I let him have…Love3 min readLove3 min read
Jun 20, 2022Member-onlyWhat Happens When People Don’t See Past Your White Hair?Are ya blind? How to see, include, and learn from “old” people every day… — There was Gwen, who graciously answered a question from a grinning 20-something she’d never met. “What’s your favourite fairy tale?” I’d asked the woman with white hair. She’d been smiling into morning sunlight at the coffee shop table next to me. (What? I was writing a fairy tale, and I…Self Improvement5 min readSelf Improvement5 min read
Published in The Book Cafe·Apr 22, 2022Member-onlyMeet Three Versions of J.R.R. Tolkien in ‘The Wand in the Word’Three famous fantasy writers give the details on meeting J.R.R. Tolkien — J.R.R. Tolkien knew that fantasy was the thing for a crazy, war-shocked world. The Lord of the Rings took readers to epic, marvellous places and showed them the courage and beauty they needed in real life. People couldn’t get enough of the trilogy! “My memory is that I read (the…Reading5 min readReading5 min read
Published in The Book Cafe·Feb 5, 2022Member-onlyPossibly The Loveliest Book You’ll Read This YearAnd how to be disgraceful at 80 — Joanna Nell’s bestselling debut novel blows away the cobwebs of social conditioning with a hilarious story of growing old disgracefully. Peggy Smart is turning eighty soon, and boy does her family know it. A walker frame, sent by Peggy’s daughter, turns up on her doorstep, and her son keeps telling…Books2 min readBooks2 min read
Feb 3, 2022Member-onlyHere’s How Australian Birds Beat Taylor Swift in the ARIASEndangered tweets went viral in 2022… — I shoved my six-year-old face in the tree hollow and, “HELLO! Is anyone HOME?” SCREECH! I had feathers in my face: two rainbows shot from their hideout. Rainbow lorikeets are some of Australia’s more in-your-face birds. But I bet you weren’t aware of the Australian birds you’re about to listen…Birds4 min readBirds4 min read
Jan 9, 2022Member-onlyWould You Keep Reading? The First Lines of 25 Novels on my BookshelfSo how should a novel start, Daniel Defoe? — “Opening lines can give you a good indication of whether you’re dealing with a word wizard or not,” writes someone who clearly adores first sentences. She puts a book down if the first paragraph doesn’t cut it. Does a novel’s first line really matter that much? I started pulling books…Reading6 min readReading6 min read
Published in The Haven·Dec 23, 2021Member-onlyI Am the One Who Eats Only the Recommended Serving of the Chocolate BarMy acquaintances say I must have supreme discipline. They speculate that I was not deprived of chocolate as a child, was allowed to eat it for breakfast and lunch and dinner, so that I now feel no compulsion to eat beyond the recommended serving of a chocolate bar. …Funny3 min readFunny3 min read
