Writing Through the Tears

G’day Fee,

Thanks for inviting me onto your blog today. I’m thrilled to be sharing the inspiration behind my third novel, Flame Tree Hill.

Flame Tree Hill is of course, fictional, but it is also heavily based on my best mate’s, Joanne Jackson’s, breast cancer journey. Jo has battled breast cancer not once, but twice!!, and has survived. She is an amazing woman with an inspiration story that needed telling. So, with her approval, I delved into her world through her diaries that she kept throughout her heartbreaking journey. And boy oh boy, was my keyboard quite often covered in tears! And it’s hard to type when your vision is blurred too, I might add!

As a mate, I was there throughout her cancer, but never did I know the darkest emotions and terror my beautiful Jo had felt. It was only in her diaries, did she let everything spill from her heart and mind, and when reading what she went through, mentally, physically and emotionally, it tore my heart to shreds.  I just hope that I have given her story justice in Flame Tree Hill. And I reckon it’s going to be one that the readers will need a box of Kleenex, or three, beside them as they read.

But, it’s not all going to be sniffles, with Flame Tree Hill also having many laugh out loud moments combined with the beauty of a deeply moving love story. I’m hoping it will tick all the boxes for my readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing Flame Tree Hill, even though I shed enough tears to fill the ocean as I did so. It is a novel that will always remain very close to my heart and one that I hope can reach out and touch the people that are either going through cancer, supporting someone with cancer, or have sadly lost a love one to this terrifying disease. Lets just hope and pray they find a cure soon.

Mandy xoxo

Kirsty Mitchell is ready to come home. After a tragic accident that left her scarred, she fled overseas. Now, three years later, she’s finally returning to Flame Tree Hill, her beloved family farm. But at twenty-five Kirsty isn’t prepared for the terrifying new challenge ahead: breast cancer. Kirsty’s never been a quitter and that’s not about to change. But can her budding romance with local vet Aden bear the strain? As she battles with chemotherapy and as her past threatens to overwhelm her, Kirsty realises you can never take anything – or anyone – for granted. Drawing strength from her family and the beauty of Far North Queensland, Kirsty finally understands what she must do.

“A lyrical and heart-warming testament to the power of love – and forgiveness.”

Whereabouts is Helene Now?

Fiona, thanks for having me on your blog to chat about my current whereabouts. Life’s been pretty exciting recently for us as we’ve moved from a house to a catamaran called Roo Bin Esque. My husband’s taken to calling us Grotty Yachties… Nothing grotty about this sailor!

Probably the best part of that move (and downsizing was the hard part) was the journey north from Brisbane to Cairns. I knew the coastline was amazing as I fly over it regularly with my day job but I was blown away.  We live in an amazing country. I thought I’d share some of photos of our new life afloat – including Zeus’s take on the world!

Roo Bin Esque is a Lagoon 400 Catamaran, which means she’s a 40 ft boat with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a dinghy out the back – a bit like a tiny modern apartment! Here she is anchored of Mooloolaba.

I don’t have a writing space as such anymore, but I do have a choice of indoor or outdoor table. It gets a little glary outside so on a sunny day inside works best. I still have an amazing view so I don’t complain

Probably the best view from the boat is from the top of the mast. While I don’t plan on doing that on a regular basis I did have to go aloft twice just after we bought the boat to fix damaged rope on the mainsail. It was exhilarating and a little unnerving dangling on a rope 25 metres above the water!!

I’ve always been a lover of sunset and sunrises and one of the beautiful things about the journey north was having the time to enjoy them every single day. I drove Capt G mad taking photos, but here are my two favourite shots from the trip.

The first one is sunrise at the Percy Islands. What do you think?

I had a hard time choosing the sunset, but I’ve gone with the one over Cape Grafton mainly because it was a day filled with mixed emotion. It was almost the end of the journey. I was excited that home was just around the corner and we’d had a safe and successful journey, but I was also a little sad that our adventure was coming to an end.

We’ve had a month in our new neighbourhood now and we’ve settled into the rhythm of marina life.  Our neighbours are endlessly interesting and someone’s always up for a chat. This is the view off the back deck  – couldn’t resist another sunset

It’s an ever-changing community as boats come and go heading off on new adventures. One day we’ll join them, but for now Roo Bin Esque is bobbing at her mooring and Zeus, the salty sea dog, is doing what he does best in his retirement – sleeping!

You can find the crew of Roo Bin Esque at http://www.heleneyoung.com.

Follow us on Face Book at : https://www.facebook.com/HeleneYoungAustralianAuthor

And occasionally find us tweeting at : https://twitter.com/HeleneYoung

Back Cover Blurb for Half Moon Bay 2013

Ellie Wilding has been running from her past, but when the residents of Half Moon Bay call for help she knows it’s finally time to return home.  As an international photojournalist, she’s used to violence in war zones, but she’s shocked when it erupts in the sleepy hamlet on the north coast of New South Wales, threatening all she holds dear.

Battle-weary Nicholas Lawson walked away from his military career leaving unfinished business. In a coastal backwater, that decision returns to haunt him. He remembers all too vividly his last lethal assignment in Afghanistan when Ellie’s sister, Nina, was shot and killed. Ellie’s been in his dreams ever since, even if she doesn’t remember him…

As a storm rages and floodwaters rise, Ellie struggles to save her community. But who can she trust? Nick Lawson, the dangerously attractive stranger with secrets, or an old friend who’s never let her down?

Multi-award winning author, Helene Young, lives aboard a catamaran moored near the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea. She shares her sailing adventures with her husband and their dog, Zeus. Her work as a senior captain with a major regional airline takes her all over Australia and she draws inspiration for her stories from the communities she visits.

She won the Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) Romantic Book of the Year Award in 2011 and 2012. She was also voted most popular romantic suspense author by the Romance Readers of Australia (ARRA) in 2010 and 2011, and shortlisted for the same award in 2012.

Helene is also the custodian of several thousand bees and in what spare time she has left, loves to read and travel.

Thanks so much for inviting me on Writer Whereabouts, Fiona. It’s a lovely idea for a series, albeit a little tricky for me given our penchant for moving around. Five and a bit months ago we were Melbournians, catching trams, grinning each time we passed the MCG, and loving its football tribalism. Five years ago Newcastle was home, and what a fabulous one it was too. This time ten years ago we were four months into what turned out to be a three year stint living in the south of France. In a few years time we could be somewhere else. I hope so. The house moving might be a pain in the bum but the adventure is unbeatable.

But for this post I thought I’d go back to where it all began – Mount Gambier. A beautiful town in the south east of South Australia where my family still resides. It boasts a magnificent Blue Lake that turns from very boring grey to stunning electric blue each summer…

…and beaches not far away. Lovely big seaweed strewn ones that bear the full brunt of the Southern Ocean and its chilly weather, but which are great none the less. Mum and Dad had a shack, about half an hour’s drive south, in a tiny fishing village called Nene Valley, so named after the barque that was wrecked close by on route to Portland from London. When I was small you could still see the spines of the ship at very low tide but it’s long gone now. We spent every holiday at the shack, fishing, swimming, rabbiting, suffering stubbed toes and sunburn. Perfect!

We have volcanos, too. The Blue Lake is one that blew its top and caved in on itself to form a series of crater lakes, but south of there is Mount Schank, one of the youngest in the volcanic chain that stretches across southern Australia. When we were kids, a great birthday outing was to climb to the top and slide on your bum all the way to the bottom. Like tobogganing but with only your jeans to protect you.

Naturally, in my life there were horses. I just love them. This is me and my beloved Mysty at Nene Valley. She was the funniest horse. She drank coffee and ate cheese sandwiches and was hugely curious. Once, when I’d left her still saddled and bridled but untethered near the front door while I ducked inside for a drink, she followed me down the entrance hall for a nose about.

This is Dinks, one of my other horses, at a pony club event. He was a lovely creature.

This is me with my Dad, enjoying a ride, with Mum’s dog Milly snuffling around, probably on the hunt for hoof trimmings. Dogs just love those!

Speaking of dogs, this is my darling Cooch. She’s featuring in my next book, although the collie in that story is quite a bit braver than my Cooch. I loved that dog but she was a terrible sook.

So where do I live now? Currently right on the outer fringe of Sydney. On one side of me is a massive housing development. On the other, lush paddocks and fat cattle, and if I look directly east I see the lower hills of the Blue Mountains. It’s quite a pretty area with a morning mist that creeps along the creek passing the bottom of the street and plenty of horse establishments in the neighbouring valley. Good for me to get my horse fix!

If you’d like to learn more about Cathryn or her books, please visit her website. You can also find her chattering away on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

Cathryn’s latest release is Heartland.

When Callie Reynolds arrives at Glenmore, the property she’s recently inherited, the last thing she wants is to be saddled with a warty horse, an injured neighbour and a mad goose. Haunted by her sister’s death and her fractured family, all she wants is freedom.

But Callie hasn’t counted on falling for Matt Hawkins, an ex-soldier determined to fulfil his own dream of land and family. Nor could she predict the way the land, animals and people of Glenmore will capture her heart.

Callie is faced with impossible choices. But she must find the courage to decide where her future lies, even if it costs her everything she holds dear.

About Cathryn:

Cathryn Hein was born in South Australia’s rural south-east. With three generations of jockeys in the family it was little wonder she grew up horse-mad, finally obtaining her first horse at age 10. So began years of pony club, eventing, dressage and showjumping until university beckoned. Armed with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Agriculture), she moved to Melbourne and later Newcastle, working in the agricultural and turf seeds industry. Her partner’s posting to France took Cathryn overseas for three years where she finally gave in to her life-long desire to write. Her debut rural-set romance, Promises, released in 2011, followed by Heart of the Valley in 2012. Cathryn’s third novel, Heartland, releases in May 2013.

For a month I had a competition running on Goodreads giving readers the chance to win 10 signed copies of The Sunburnt Country.  The competition has now ended and I’ve been sent the list of 10 winners.  Congrats to the following people:

Lee-ann Lewis

Roz Groves

Scott Mann

Rupa Bale

Emma Franke

Gisele Wright

Julie Hughes-Owen

Eugenia A

Clare Morton

Sarah Jefferyes

Today I am sending you your signed copy. It may take a few weeks as postage from rural WA to the rest of Australia can take a while. But know it is on its way.

Thank you to all that entered and to all those who have left reivews and comments about The Sunburnt Country. There are some great ones, so thank you for making my day.

Back in February I was on Helene Young’s blog talking about how a house is not a home without an animal or two (or three). Well, a small town story is not a small town story without a feathered or furry friend.

While my human characters in House for all Seasons are fictional, my animals are usually inspired by real-life versions (which is fine because they can’t read, therefore they can’t sue me or not talk to me when I get them wrong!)

My host today, Fiona Palmer, is a sucker for an animal too, so I thought I’d share the inspiration behind my House for all Seasons menagerie – the Part 2 – and the important roles they play. Part 1 – is my canine characters (and those that think they’re a dog!)

Now for Part 2 – The menagerie….

Name: Muddy The Award-Winning Cow (a.k.a the walking Gucci handbag!)
In residence: at the Dandelion House

Find her in Part 3: Amber Leaves

Owned by: Gypsy

Inspiration: The real Muddy lives a few properties away from me and I’ve watched her grow. In the early stages, brown spots speckled her body and she looked like the loser in a game of paint ball. Now she’s aging the brown splotches are joining up.

One of my favourite lines in the book features Muddy.  The line comes after a husband arrives in Calingarry Crossing and tracks down his wife now toting a cow. He says…

‘Maybe you can help me. I’m looking for my wife. Perhaps you’ve seen her. Immaculately dressed, straight red hair, the world’s tallest stilettos, and usually toting a Gucci leather handbag, not the whole cow.’

Name: Ruby the pony

Find her in Part 4: Wynter’s Way

Owned by: Gypsy – an ex-circus pony and one-time resident at the Dandelion House.

Inspiration: She is actually a he in real life. This little guy’s name is Charlie. He was keeping Muddy the cow company for a while and I’d feed him on my morning walk. So cute. As a kid, big horses had frightened me. I think because as a very young girl – about seven at the time, and wearing my favourite shirt that did up at the back with little pearl buttons – a big, brown horse at the Easter Show nibbled the buttons off. Frightened the life out of me.

Name: Here chooky, chooky, chooky!

Find in Parts 1 to 4: Surviving Summer, Tall Pappy, Amber Leaves and Wynter’s Way.

Owned by: Does anyone really own a chook? There are a few common browns and a couple of bantams ruling the roost at The Dandelion House.

Inspiration: I’m sorry, but a chook, is a chook, is a chook. Now, I am sure there are folk here who will disagree, and as much as I love my Flo and Benny (pictured – the names short for Eggs Florentine and Eggs Benedict) they are just feathered flibbertigibbets with giblets!

Name: None – why bother naming them when they’re too dumb and stubborn to come when called? *joking, lamb lovers!*

Find in Parts 1 to 4: Surviving Summer, Tall Pappy, Amber Leaves and Wynter’s Way.

Owned by: Gypsy – and still in residence at The Dandelion House

Inspiration: My neighbour’s mob. So funny to watch. (The mob, not the neighbour! Although come to think of it, my neighbour, PJ, is such a character I’ve made him one in book 3!)

Caitlin (Part 4) probably describes the dorper sheep better than me in this excerpt…

Karma stayed close at her heel, not quite sure what to make of the raggedy-looking wool on the Dorper sheep, a bit like an ugly, oversized wool jumper worn half on, half off. Cait tried to Google ‘Dorper sheep’ but the intermittent connection frustrated her more than informed her. The bit she did read confirmed they required no shearing, their wool simply falling off as it snagged on bushes and fences. The breed’s other qualities described the perfect daughter: hardy, adaptable, low maintenance, highly fertile and with great mothering instincts.

Maybe Mum should have given birth to a Dorper!

So there you have it. The rest of the menagerie, as well as a couple of sneak peaks inside my House for all Seasons. Visit Helene Young’s dog blog to meet Shrapnel, Blue, Karma, Jackpot and Rocky.

Come home to the country with Jenn: www.jennjmcleod.com

Facebook Author page: /JennJMcLeod.Books

Twitter: @JennJMcLeod  https://twitter.com/jennjmcleod

More information. www.houseforallseasons.com.au

Blurb – House for all Seasons. (Simon & Schuster)

In a country house surrounded by the past, four women – through four journeys of the heart – discover small towns can keep big secrets.

House for all Seasons is a story of unravelling friendships, the tightening of family ties, and the unsettling after-effects of choices made. But mostly it’s about coming home to find your place in the world and discovering that country roots can run very deep.

Sara, a breast cancer survivor afraid to fall in love;

Poppy, a tough, ambitions journo still craving her father’s approval;

Amber, a spoilt socialite addicted to painkillers and cosmetic procedures;

Caitlin, a doctor frustrated by a controlling family and her flat-lining life.

At the Dandelion House, the women will discover something about themselves and a secret that ties all four to each other and to the house – forever.

Jenn J McLeod is taking you home to the country….

Gosh, I’m glad I’m not following on from Tony Park’s post [add link]. My writer whereabouts would seem rather tame after his – and in more ways than one; my little corner of the country is delightfully dull in terms of wildlife. It’s quiet and peaceful, which was a very lovely change from the hectic corporate existence in Sydney.

Where I began…

I wasn’t always small town girl. Growing up in Curl Curl – a leafy Sydney beachside suburb – I was more likely to find sand in unmentionable places than Redbacks on my toilet seat (or feet, Fee!). One day I woke up and found myself living in Sydney’s Hills district in a ‘McMansion’– the air-conditioned cocoon with an automatic garage door that swallowed us up into a private oblivion, then spat us out every morning like clockwork to tackle the 1.5-hour city commute.

Where I am now…

On this blog post today you can come home to the country with me and share my tree/sea change joy, because behind my desire to write small town stories is the desire to encourage others to look at life-style options and take a chance. As daunting and unfeasible as it may sound to you right now, you can slow down, simplify life and breathe fresh air. I not only left the city, I bought a cafe (not that I knew how one worked) and relocated Christmas 2003, taking over the iconic Sawtell cafe on the January long weekend!!!!! I sold the cafe in 2008 and now concentrate on writing (oh, and my B&B).

The picturesque Bonville Valley – a rural hamlet south of Coffs Harbour – has been home for a while now. It’s mostly just acreages – small parcels, with and without livestock and orchards. (We used to have two petrol stations. We now have one – but it has a post office and sells yummy meat pies!)

On the street where I live…

My property, Wagtail Cottage, is a dog-friendly B&B where the dog is the VIP (that’s Very Im-paw-tant Pet) and only well-behaved humans are allowed inside! So when I’m not writing I’m making beds and mopping floors.

Come for a walk and I’ll introduced you to some neighbours, like these cows and dorper sheep and the wonderful Mr Ed. My House for all Seasons novel has LOTS of animals in it!

Here’s my street (1) in sunshine (2) when the creek bursts its banks and (3) creative cars!

The bigger picture…

Those mountains you can see are part of the Great Dividing Range. I live at the only spot the Great Divide meets the ocean. Dorrigo is somewhere on the top and Armidale is further west. To the east (not far, as the crow flies) is the sea. Down the highway a bit is Bundagen (a rural land sharing co-operative and wildlife sanctuary). http://bundagen.com.au/ We even have a nudist beach! (That reminds me, I should mention that bananas are HUGE here, both from an economic and a tourist perspective – obviously!)

In addition to the Great Divide to the west, Bonville is bounded by Bongil Bongil National Park, http://www.coffscoast.com.au/Places-to-Visit/National-Parks-and-Forests/Pages/Bongil-Bongil-NP.aspx the Pacific Ocean and Pine Creek State Forest (pls keep shooters out of it!)

My secret spot…

I will tell you about a secret place that locals like to keep to themselves. My author photos (taken by the very clever Marie Miller/Elle Fynllay) were taken at Never Never Creek, which runs through The Promised Lands – a true piece of paradise tucked away between Bonville and Bellingen. Many a lazy lunch has been enjoyed in Bellingen, with a leisurely back-roads trip home (if you don’t mind a dust-covered car in the process).

Well, that’s probably enough chatter. Best get back to writing at my desk. (The stuffed dog – that’s Mocha – and his buddy Cino are about as productive as me some days!)

The seasons…

I’ll leave you with my inspiration tree for House for all Seasons. Clearly, I love the seasons and I love watching this magnificent maple change through spring, summer, autumn and winter. (Shame the photos don’t do the true colours justice.)

What’s next?

Book two in my Seasons Collection – The Simmering Season – is out March next year. It’s a loosely linked Calingarry Crossing novel in which a school reunion brings home more than memories for local publican, Maggie Lindeman.

After that? All going well, life will get even simpler when I downsize and set off…writing in a Winnebago.

In the meantime…. Floors need mopping in the B&B. You can check out the B&B here www.wagtailcottage.com.au (It does make a terrific writer’s retreat – with furry muse!)

House for all Seasons – Simon & Schuster available in bookshop and online.

Read the 5-star reviews, watch the video, nosey around my place www.jennjmcleod.com

Come home to the country – Discover it. Love it.

And so this blog post does not turn into a tourist guide to all the wonderful natural wonders (no, I’m not referring to bananas!) you can explore yourself http://www.coffscoast.com.au/Places-to-Visit/National-Parks-and-Forests/Pages/default.aspx)

Wool Press – A bale bag is placed inside the press. The fleeces, depending on grade, are put inside and pressed down until the required weight.

Video of filling press- pressing (sorry for the bad quality of videoing!)

A 5 stand shearing shed.

Raised Floor – this is where the shearers are raised so the rousies don’t have to bend down.

Skirting table – The fleece is thrown on top and the dirty edges are skirted off. Any stains, black wool or skin is also taken off.

Videos of shearing

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

upclose.
Gotta love the music in the background!

Here is one of the many limo’s that take shearing crews to and from sheds!

Thanks to the Jensen’s and Garard’s for letting me into their sheds, and their shearing crews for allowing me put them on the www! Cheers x

My home town – Tony Park.

Thanks for the invitation to blog about my home town, Fiona – now, I just wish I had one! My wife, Nicola, and I lead an unusual life spread across two continents and two very different environments. We spend six months of each year living in a two bedroom flat in a block of units on a six-lane highway in suburban Sydney and the remainder of the year living in the African bush, surrounded by wild animals.

Here’s the quiet street I live on in Sydney – the six-lane Pacific Highway, with
its eclectic, villagey collection of car yards and self storage places.

In both locations we’re quite remote from the nearest ‘town’ so it’s hard for us to identify with a particular community, but in their own ways they’re both nice places to live. You might think that living in Sydney, Australia’s largest (and, of course, best) city we’d be surrounded by shops and restaurants – we’re not. Nicola and I live on the Pacific Highway at a spot that’s pretty much the outer limit of four suburbs, Greenwich, Artarmon, Lane Cove and Willoughby.

Our nearest supermarket (pretty much our nearest anything) is about a kilometre in any direction. Our charming street is dotted with fetching car dealerships, self storage warehouses and, an industrial estate and, just down a quaint side street, a state of the art waste transfer facility – that’s city speak for a mini rubbish tip. On the plus side we live on the backside of our block of flats and we do have a nice view out over most of the city, including the Parramatta River.

The local neighbourhood wildebeest by my rubbish bin. Garbage collection is once a week, courtesy of the baboons.

I’m actually quite envious of some of my author friends and other mates who live in country towns – they always seem to have a couple of pubs and a corner store or supermarket within a few minutes stroll of their home. There also seems to be a great sense of community in country towns, which is lacking where I live. In fact, I’m not even 100 per cent sure where I live – the electoral office says it’s Greenwich, but the post office says it’s Artarmon! But don’t get me wrong, I love Sydney. A couple of kilometres away is Crows Nest which has some of the best restaurants in Sydney and my daily (well, every few days) run takes me over the harbour bridge and around the Opera House, or down to Balmoral Beach.

The country side around Hazyview and the Kruger Park is rolling green hills covered in plantations, farms and remnant natural bush.

For the six months of the year when we’re not in Artarmon (or Greenwich), Nicola and I live in Africa. Until last year that meant spending half the year camping in southern Africa’s sensational national parks and living out of the back of our Land Rover, which we keep garaged with friends in Johannesburg.

Last year, having become older, softer and marginally less poor we decided to put down some roots in Africa and buy a house somewhere on the continent. You don’t hear of many people moving from Australia to South Africa, mainly because not many people do, but we bucked the trend.

Occasionally the neighbours drop in, unannounced

The house we found (coincidentally via a gold mine manager guy who was helping me with research for forthcoming novel, “The Prey”) is in a wildlife estate, which is a South African term for a bunch of houses set in a game reserve surrounded by wild animals. Our estate is on the edge of the Kruger National Park, the country’s flagship reserve. Our house is on a hectare of natural bushland and while there’s no fence around our piece of property the entire estate is surrounded by an electric fence that keeps the animals in and unwelcome people out.

Sit on our veranda (or, as I do, set up my infrared camera trap at night) and you can see zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, impala and even the occasional leopard wandering by. Yes, our neighbourhood cat is a leopard.

Me working near my house in Africa, down on the Sabie River, with and elephant in the distance

The Sabie River (the name means ‘fear’) is the border with the national park proper and acts as a deterrent to lion, elephant, hippo and buffalo crossing into our estate, although the occasional lion has been known to wander in. It’s fun and exciting living there, although we don’t go for too many moonlight strolls (none, in fact).

A herd of zebra trying to get into our communal swimming pool.

We still like to travel throughout Africa so when we’re not at ‘home’ we’re out camping in the bush in a national park somewhere, sleeping in the roof tent on top of our Land Rover. Our nearest shop and our post box are 12 kilometres away, inside the national park at the main rest camp, Skukuza. Prices there are geared towards the thousands of tourists who pass through daily.

Our local supermarket in Africa, a meer 35km from our house

Warning sign at the Skukuza Golf Course – beware of the elephants!

There’s a golf club inside the national park (imagine lions killing antelopes on the fairway – true story) which does excellent cooked breakfasts and burgers, so we often pop in there. We tend to save up our shopping for a trip to our nearest substantial town, Hazyview, which is a 35-kilometre drive through the national park, entering the park via one gate and leaving by another. It’s not unusual for us to see a few of the Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo – on a drive to the shops.

South African traffic jam – a lion at the entrance gate to the national park, adjacent
to our property (incidentally, the road beyond the open gate is the main road.

The craft market at Hazyview, aka Crazyview

Hazyview, known to locals as Crazyview, has a bit of a Wild West feel to it. There’s good rainfall and rich soil in the hills around town, which support a variety of farming, including bananas, macadamias, and avocados. It’s also a safari town – many of its inhabitants are rangers, safari guides and other people employed in the tourism industry.

Consequently it has more colourful characters per capita than anywhere else in South Afirca. There’s a Crocodile Dundee equivalent on every corner and every barstool. Hazyview has supermarkets, bottle stores, hardware shops and a few decent restaurants, including the one in Rissington Inn, a hotel owned by my friend and fellow author Chris Harvie, who makes the best cooked breakfasts crocodile tail curry in Africa, if not the world. If you drive around the town’s outskirts at night you need to keep an eye out for wandering hippos but during the day your main dangers are the local suicidal minibus taxi drivers and foreign tourists in rental cars and sleeveless photographic vests.

One of the neighbourhood cats – our resident male leopard who visits often from the neighbouring Kruger Park

Although I’m not from South Africa I’ve made many good friends in Hazyview and you can buy my books in the local newsagency and bookstore. People in Africa like reading books about the bush and locations they know and this dorpie (Afrikaans for a small town) has found its way into my novels, and my heart.

Thank you Tony. It was amazing to see parts of your world. It really makes your books come alive for me to see photo’s of Africa. I love your rubbish collection but I’m not so keen on your neighbours that drop by. Thanks again for sharing your ‘whereabouts’ with us.

You can follow Tony on Facebook here or read a snippet from his book Dark Heart here.

Here is Georgie and I parked right next to the wine table! Too bad I had to drive.

I had to get up early, leaving at 5am to get to Albany on time. I had missed heaps of Kangaroo’s on my way to Lake Grace, and was quite releaved seeing as I was driving my new car. Well newish. But just out of Lake Grace my good fortune came to an end as a joey doubled back onto the road. If it had just followed his mum all would have worked out fine. I could not finish the 2.5hr drive still left to go as the car wasn’t safe to drive. So I got it back to Lake Grace to my in-laws place. Waking them up! Bad form. Had to call hubby to borrow my parents car, which he drove to LG so I could continue on my trip. I got back from Albany and had to borrow my mum’s car to do the Perth 3 day tour as well, clocking up over 18ookm’s. (thanks mum, I owe ya one!)

So Tuesday morning we headed straight to Perth, some 350km away. (no roo’s this time) First stop was Dymocks Carousel to sign some stock. Wow, they have a new shop and it was gorgeous. Look at this set up! I was told that many customers have fallen asleep on these chairs. (sooo comfy!) Next was Dymocks Hay St in the city centre. Was great to catch up with Barbara again & sign more stock. If you are in Perth and want a signed copy, now you know where to go. Also Dymocks in Garden City have some as we stopped off there on our way down to Margaret River.

That Tuesday afternoon I had a talk at the Maylands library and afterwards went across the road for a cuppa with Joyce, one of our WA Penguin reps. By the time we got to our hotel (after freaking over how much parking in the city costs. Seriously $40. I’m so not used to that.) we crashed out early. After some shopping on Wed we hit the road down south. Just so beautiful down that way. I love the green and the trees. That night it was a talk at the Margaret River Bookshop with the wonderful hosts Pauline and Keith.

They had yummy snacks and wines. Such a beautiful book shop. I wish we could have one of these out in the country! My backdrop for the talk was awesome.

Our last day was Thursday, driving back to Busselton for a talk at the library. Nearly 40 people turned up to hear me talk. Scary. But everyone was so welcoming and full of questions which helped ease my nerves. And as you can see by the photo’s I wore two dresses on this trip. (That would shock my friends lol)

The lovely ladies from Dymocks in Busso came to support the event again. Suzanne (on the right) and Karen from the Library do a wonderful job. Thanks for having me back!

After the talk it was time to fuel up and head home. I had to stop in and pick up my kids from my in-laws (thanks Grannie & Pop) and also see how my poor car was going. Hopefully its all fixed by the end of next week!

I like driving but by Thursday night I was rather tired. It was good to be back home. Now I’m busy getting ready for the Wagin Wooolorama which is on the 8th & 9th of March.

Thank you to those who came to the talks, your support is greatly appreciated. I hope you’re all enjoying The Sunburnt Country.

Dear Fiona,

Has it been one month already? I feel like it was just yesterday I was writing to tell you about my January release, “The Girl in the Hard Hat.” Well, this month I have an e-book coming out that’s a little bit different. It’s a romantic, comedy novella set in urban Sydney. The title is, “One Little White Lie.”

I actually started writing this story about eight years ago and couldn’t seem to get it right. I put the manuscript aside and didn’t look at it again until my agent asked me if I had something I could submit for Random House’s new digital first romance line. On a whim, I got this manuscript out and with fresh eyes could finally see the reason the story wasn’t working. It was because the premise wasn’t really big enough to warrant a full blown novel. In fact, a novella size would suit it perfectly. So I shortened and tightened the prose and whala! My baby grew up at last! I was so pleased when I submitted it to my editor and her response was, “It was an absolute joy.”

My heroine is single girl Kate Dreson whose best friend, Lisa, won’t stop setting her up on blind dates. To put a halt to the match making she tells Lisa that she is happily dating someone. Who knew that one little white lie could so blatantly backfire?

The imaginary boyfriend she described to her friend suddenly walks into her life and starts making himself comfortable in it. Trapped by her lie, poor Kate is powerless to stop him. But the real question is, does she really want to?

I hope my readers get a few laughs out of this one.

Thanks again for having me on your blog, Fi. When are you going to come visit mine?

All the best,

Loretta Hill

xo