Belief in your own ability is paramount to success as a writer.
And above all ... enjoy the journey.
Life as a Writer ...
I am currently working as an editor, proofreader and typesetter in the indie publishing industry as well as producing books for community groups and other writers. Yet somehow, in all this flurry of keyboard activity, I have found some time to write for myself.
My recent books include:
• Coastlines
Coastlines comprises a series of five books focusing on the 16th to 19th centuries, an era of European exploration and discovery in the southern oceans and an important period in Australia’s maritime history.
What you will find in Coastlines are the stories, places, events and images that have drawn my attention, held my interest and stirred my imagination as I have travelled around our extraordinary coastline over the past ten years.
Coastlines Book I - maritime history, maps, navigation
Coastlines Book II - 16th to 19th century maritime explorers
Coastlines Book III - ships and lighthouses
Coastlines Book IV - early coastal settlements
Coastlines Book V - poetry and photographs of the Australian coastline
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• Dangerous Legacy - an adult mystery thriller
Dangerous Legacy is a work of fiction, but its theme explores a very real danger – morbillivirus, now known as Hendra virus, is killing horses, and humans, in Australia right now.
Set against the background of the horse racing industry in England and Australia, Dangerous Legacy provides a startling and relevant insight into the threat to the modern world from biological aberrations of viruses and from knowledge translated into power placed in the wrong hands.
• Sequel to Danger – the sequel to Dangerous Legacy
Set against a background of the horse racing industry, Sequel to Danger explores a hypothetical scenario involving hendra virus and its potential threat to the modern world. The danger expands exponentially when the spread of the virus is linked to corruption in high places.
Told from the viewpoint of the principal character, Ben Eastlake, the story begins at the point where Dangerous Legacy, the first novel in the series, concludes.
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• On Reflection - A Journey told in Verse
From a childhood growing up on a cane farm near Bundaberg to living in the same South Burnett country town for forty years before moving to the Sunshine Coast hinterland, these poems reflect my thoughts on life and the world about me from four different viewpoints:
On Living on the Land
On Hinterland and Coast
On Other Places
On Reflection
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• Books for my Grandchildren
The Littlest Bandit - a children's book for the 3 - 5 years age group, illustrated by Richard Marman.
Max Visits the Zoo - the second book for children in the series about Max and her gang of animal friends. Also illustrated by Richard Marman.
An Excellent, Awesome Adventure - the third book in the Max series llustrated by Richard Marman, about flying a kite on a windy day
Max and the Princesses - the final book in the Max series. This time Max has fun with some feisty princesses and a story that 'just won't behave!'.
A Moose in a Mountie Suit - a 'Read-to-Me' book for very young children, illustrated by Richard Marman.
Mackenzie and the Butterfly Ring - a fantastical tale for young readers who possess a good imagination.
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The Soldier on the Stone - a very personal reflection on wars that have affected Australia over the past 100 years. It contains poetry, photographs and prose covering a range of war-related themes.
The Solder on the Stone documents a journey of discovery - times, places, people and events, both in Australia and abroad, that I found interesting, compelling, challenging or extraordinarily heart-rending.
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See full descriptions of all the above books on the 'About my Books' page of this site.
Current projects:
• the third book in the Dangerous Legacy trilogy, to be published 2019
• my memoirs, also to be published 2019
I am currently working as an editor, proofreader and typesetter in the indie publishing industry as well as producing books for community groups and other writers. Yet somehow, in all this flurry of keyboard activity, I have found some time to write for myself.
My recent books include:
• Coastlines
Coastlines comprises a series of five books focusing on the 16th to 19th centuries, an era of European exploration and discovery in the southern oceans and an important period in Australia’s maritime history.
What you will find in Coastlines are the stories, places, events and images that have drawn my attention, held my interest and stirred my imagination as I have travelled around our extraordinary coastline over the past ten years.
Coastlines Book I - maritime history, maps, navigation
Coastlines Book II - 16th to 19th century maritime explorers
Coastlines Book III - ships and lighthouses
Coastlines Book IV - early coastal settlements
Coastlines Book V - poetry and photographs of the Australian coastline
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Dangerous Legacy - an adult mystery thriller
Dangerous Legacy is a work of fiction, but its theme explores a very real danger – morbillivirus, now known as Hendra virus, is killing horses, and humans, in Australia right now.
Set against the background of the horse racing industry in England and Australia, Dangerous Legacy provides a startling and relevant insight into the threat to the modern world from biological aberrations of viruses and from knowledge translated into power placed in the wrong hands.
• Sequel to Danger – the sequel to Dangerous Legacy
Set against a background of the horse racing industry, Sequel to Danger explores a hypothetical scenario involving hendra virus and its potential threat to the modern world. The danger expands exponentially when the spread of the virus is linked to corruption in high places.
Told from the viewpoint of the principal character, Ben Eastlake, the story begins at the point where Dangerous Legacy, the first novel in the series, concludes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• On Reflection - A Journey told in Verse
From a childhood growing up on a cane farm near Bundaberg to living in the same South Burnett country town for forty years before moving to the Sunshine Coast hinterland, these poems reflect my thoughts on life and the world about me from four different viewpoints:
On Living on the Land
On Hinterland and Coast
On Other Places
On Reflection
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Books for my Grandchildren
The Littlest Bandit - a children's book for the 3 - 5 years age group, illustrated by Richard Marman.
Max Visits the Zoo - the second book for children in the series about Max and her gang of animal friends. Also illustrated by Richard Marman.
An Excellent, Awesome Adventure - the third book in the Max series llustrated by Richard Marman, about flying a kite on a windy day
Max and the Princesses - the final book in the Max series. This time Max has fun with some feisty princesses and a story that 'just won't behave!'.
A Moose in a Mountie Suit - a 'Read-to-Me' book for very young children, illustrated by Richard Marman.
Mackenzie and the Butterfly Ring - a fantastical tale for young readers who possess a good imagination.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Soldier on the Stone - a very personal reflection on wars that have affected Australia over the past 100 years. It contains poetry, photographs and prose covering a range of war-related themes.
The Solder on the Stone documents a journey of discovery - times, places, people and events, both in Australia and abroad, that I found interesting, compelling, challenging or extraordinarily heart-rending.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See full descriptions of all the above books on the 'About my Books' page of this site.
Current projects:
• the third book in the Dangerous Legacy trilogy, to be published 2019
• my memoirs, also to be published 2019
Looking back ...
I began writing around ten years of age, scribbling poems and stories in a school exercise book. I haven't stopped writing since, over a period of some sixty years.
As an adult my early writing was shared between my work as an educator and pro bono work for community and writers' groups, in roughly equivalent measures.
WRITING FOR OTHERS
Educational publications:
Keyboard Skills - Software and textbook (co-authored with W Bandidt) McGraw-Hill
Typing Tutor - computer program, textbook and teachers' guide (co-authored with
H Richards and D Carey) published by the Queensland Education Department
The Road to Empowerment - A Guide to using the Word Processor as a Writing Tool
P - 7 Keyboarding Sourcebook - teachers' resource book
Not Only But Also - thinking skills strategies for the classroom
Community Books (histories and fundraising cookbooks):
Neverending Stories - History of Goomeri and district since the land sale of 2011
A Companion to Neverending Stories - sequel to the above community history
The Palmwoods RDA Story - History of Palmwoods Riding for the Disabled Association
The First Eighty Years - HIstory of Football in the Mundubbera district
Celebration of a Network: The QRWN Story for the Qld Rural Women Network
The Pumpkin Festival Recipe Book - for the Goomeri Chamber of Commerce
Riding Develops Appetites - for the Riding for the Disabled Association
108 Moves for Morning, Noon and Night - for the Taoist Tai Chi Association
Poetry anthologies for the Sunshine Coast Pente Poets:
Fridays at Flaxton
Some Other Landscape
For the Pente Poets Sunshine Coast Poetry Trail project:
Hinterland to Headland: a Poetry Trail for the Sunshine Coast
On the Poetry trail: Hinterland
WRITING FOR MYSELF
Now, living in the beautiful Sunshine Coast hinterland of Queensland, I finally find the space I need to write just for myself.