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”
Tag Archives: writing
Snubbed by a Plumber
Things have been falling apart in our house lately. First the kitchen sink started leaking. Then the toilet started leaking. Then another toilet decided to stop flushing altogether, which instantly brings you back into the middle-ages and reaffirms your love affair with modern plumbing and disappearing bodily waste. So over the past few weeks IContinueContinue reading “Snubbed by a Plumber”
The New Writer’s Room
Her back to the view, the new writer faces a blank wall. ‘Imagination must meet memory in the dark’, Annie Dillard wrote, ‘appealing workplaces must be avoided.’ And so despite the fresh new space which has been created just for her, a space crying out for colour and attention, the new writer assumes the position,ContinueContinue reading “The New Writer’s Room”
I Don’t Think I Am a Stalker
Have you ever had the experience where you read something, and think ‘Oh my God. That is EXACTLY what I was thinking. That person must know me. We must be, like, TWINS.’I have that experience on a fairly regular basis when I read a column by Perth writer Ros Thomas, every Saturday morning in theContinueContinue reading “I Don’t Think I Am a Stalker”
The Question with No Answer
A lot of people lately have been asking ‘how my writing is going?’ They sidle up to me at parties, or over lunch or in the playground at school, and ask with genuine curiosity. Unless people are following my blogs or subscribed to my articles at WeekendNotes, it would seem that there is a bigContinueContinue reading “The Question with No Answer”
Writers versus Bloggers
I recently attended a blogging conference in Sydney, during which I learned many things, mostly that I seem to be breaking a lot of the unbreakable rules of blogging*. But over the three days, as I spoke with different people, with a range of blogs and diverse stories, the main thing that crystallised was thatContinueContinue reading “Writers versus Bloggers”
Machiavellian Bastards
In the not so distant past I attended the ‘Writing Dramatic Dialogue’ class run by author John Harman. I had hoped that it would help me limber up my writing muscles: what I didn’t realise is that it would give me licence to kill – in the literary sense that is. John started by telling us:ContinueContinue reading “Machiavellian Bastards”
How to Unblock Bloggers Block
Feast or famine. Flood or drought. Inspiration or desperation. Do these sound familiar to you? As writers, do you find that it’s all or nothing when it comes to your writing? People who have been reading my other blog Relentless over the years can see that I tend to write in spurts, and can eitherContinueContinue reading “How to Unblock Bloggers Block”
My Failures As a Writer
If you peruse a writer’s website – like this one – one thing strikes you. It is all about achievement. Writer’s websites – like this one – will detail the things that have been published, the successful pitches, the commissioned pieces. Very rarely do they talk about the failures. When I first decided to notContinueContinue reading “My Failures As a Writer”
With The Flick of a Switch
I am completely and utterly dependent on my computer, and that terrifies me.I am at the pointy end of my university semester –the plan was to submit my final essay this morning, and then be free to do other exciting things. Like the washing.I had left the room briefly, but when I returned the internetContinueContinue reading “With The Flick of a Switch”
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