October 15th is the International Day of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance. In honour of all the mums and dads out there with heavy hearts tomorrow and every day, I am publishing two pieces, written a while ago now, but always relevant. They’re neither short reads nor easy reads. I wrote them with loved onesContinueContinue reading “Opportunity Lost”
Author Archives: Shannon Meyerkort
Keeping Mum
October 15th is the International Day of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance. In honour of all the mums and dads out there with heavy hearts tomorrow and every day, I am publishing two pieces, written a while ago, but always relevant. They’re neither short reads nor easy reads. I wrote them with loved ones inContinueContinue reading “Keeping Mum”
A Grave Discovery
On November 14, 2017 I attended a book talk at Nedlands by Leigh Straw. Leigh is an author and historian and her book ‘After the War’ looks at returned servicemen from WW1 and the mental and physical trauma they brought home with them to Australia. As she so poignantly says, for some of them, theContinueContinue reading “A Grave Discovery”
An open letter to members of the Turpin, Regan and Blair families
My name is Shannon Meyerkort and I am a writer, currently researching and writing a novel set here in Perth just prior to WW1. The reason why I am contacting you, is that you may be related to one of the people who have inspired my story, and I am writing as a courtesy andContinueContinue reading “An open letter to members of the Turpin, Regan and Blair families”
A character by any other name
While my novel has been inspired by real-life people, it is ultimately fiction and so all my characters needed new names when I began to write. A character’s name is so important, it is worn like an item of clothing that one cannot remove. It distinguishes you and discloses things about you, more than weContinueContinue reading “A character by any other name”
The ANZAC Boys
Perhaps the most tantalising story Gwenyth told me about her aunt, Doris, was in response to my question about why she had never married. Gwenyth explained that many years after Doris had died, she found out from her father (Doris’ younger brother, Walter) that when Doris was very young, she’d had a sweetheart – aContinueContinue reading “The ANZAC Boys”
A Stroke of Bad Luck
This is a section that I have already removed from my novel as I am now limiting the story to the period 1912-1915. However, if you read the previous blog post about Doris, you will recognise this story as from the day of her stroke. 1968 Fred stretched in the early morning air, surveyingContinueContinue reading “A Stroke of Bad Luck”
How I came to start my novel, Part III: Doris Turpin, the teacher
This is the story of the second owner of the ‘House of Women’, and the woman whose story my novel is loosely based upon. Doris was born Doris Isabel Turpin in 1893 to Isabelle ‘Bella’ Stokes and Walter Turpin. She first appeared in the 1916 electoral roll, when she was living with her parents atContinueContinue reading “How I came to start my novel, Part III: Doris Turpin, the teacher”
How I Came to Start My Novel, Part 2: The 1920s Landowner
This is the story of the first owner of my house, the first of the ‘House of Women’. The first owner of our house was a woman by the name of Ethel Lottie Rogerson, a married woman who lived in Mount Lawley, an old suburb approximately 8 kilometres north east of Daglish. Technically, she justContinueContinue reading “How I Came to Start My Novel, Part 2: The 1920s Landowner”
How I came to start my novel
July 2005 As she walked down the stairs to her waiting car, Judith looked up at the house one more time. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘this house has only ever been owned by women.’ She smiled at me, her eyes crinkling against the winter sun, and then she got into her car and drove toContinueContinue reading “How I came to start my novel”
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