Category › General
Beyond Coming-of-Age: Writing the Ongoing Journey
August 22, 2025
As an author, I’ve always been uneasy with the way “coming-of-age” is boxed in as a genre for teenagers. The stories usually follow a familiar script: a young person stumbles through their school years, wrestles with identity, and emerges at the end of the book with a neat sense of self. The genre assumes the…
Oodles of Fun
August 14, 2025
It’s been a whole year since Misha the Groodle bounced into my life – twelve months of playing (her) and laughing (me). She’s stayed loyal to her first love, mud, but has expanded her repertoire to include rolling in seaweed, sand, and anything dead enough to make her both dirty and stinky. Lucky for me,…
The Day I Fell in Love With AI
August 8, 2025
I never thought I’d say this, but the moment AI handed me the perfect image for my short story Fiddling While Rome Burns, I was gone – smitten. This wasn’t a slow burn. One minute I was politely agreeing to “see what it could do,” and the next I was staring at an image that…
When Creativity Meets SEO: My Journey Rebuilding Bush Telegraph XPress
August 1, 2025
For over ten years, my author website, Bush Telegraph XPress, has been home to my books, short stories, and travel photojournals. Recently, I faced an unexpected challenge: the website wasn’t working the way I thought it was. Despite looking fine on the surface, there were serious issues with how search engines and visitors were discovering…
To Indent or Not to Indent? That Is the Question!
March 20, 2025
And honestly – does anyone even care anymore? Well, I do! As a writer, I’ve obsessed over formatting for years. My books follow the classic rule: every new paragraph gets an indent (except at the start of a chapter), and dialogue lines are neatly tucked in. It’s a convention that’s been around forever, subtly underpinning…
Port Fairy Folk Festival
March 13, 2025
Another fantastic Port Fairy Folk Festival! My highlights this year included the joy of discovering the wonderful Missy Higgins, dancing like crazy to Skerryvore, and hanging out with my good mate Dave Lodge. So much fun! #PortFairyFolkFestival #MissyHiggins #Skerryvore
The White Lotus
February 28, 2025
Please don’t contact me on a Monday afternoon. I’m busy then. For that’s when I check into the White Lotus hotel in Thailand for a wonderful, completely engrossing hour. I expected to enjoy_ White Lotus_ season 3 but even by the end of episode 2, I’m thinking that this could be the best in the…
A Progress Report
February 20, 2025
Misha is now nine months old, so here’s a quick progress report: Misha now understands the words wait, get in and STOP! … and generally complies. She’s learnt to walk happily on her three-metre lead (thanks to wonderful dog-trainer Jo for this tip), and knows now to urinate before a trip in the car. She’s…
Warning!
February 13, 2025
Watch out and drive slowly! Kangaroos and other wildlife are foraging for food alongside roadside verges at the moment, where there’s still some green grass. At night many are being hit, leaving drivers traumatised, cars damaged and dead animals everywhere. By driving slowly and staying alert for wildlife about to cross the road, you can…
Remembering the Black Saturday Bushfires
February 6, 2025
I have a difficult confession to make. Until recently, I had never read two books about the Black Saturday bushfires – books written by locals I know and deeply respect. For years, I simply couldn’t. My own harrowing experience of that devastating inferno on 7 February 2009, made it too painful to relive through someone…