Archive for May, 2009

The Lonely Goat

Check out the digs I stayed in at Grindlewald during Agfest!

I fair dinkum felt like a cuckoo in a cuckoo clock and took to yodelling each morning from my top balcony.

This replica Swiss village was a terrific place to stay for our family. While John, the kids and our mates Rod and Leeanne went to Agfest I stayed at home, to be the lonely goat.

I got so much editing done during the day on The Cattleman’s Daughter, that I was well and truly ready from some Schapps in the evening and felt more than slightly ‘cuckoo’.

We’ll be sure to stay there again for Agfest 2010, and next time I’ll be better prepared.

I’m going to wear a pair of lederhosen, one of those busty tops and carrying around massive jugs of beer.

Creative pathway

It’s a very exciting week coming up this week for me! My literary agent and dear friend, Margaret Connolly is visiting, along with Dan and Sally from Penguin Books.

I’m keen to have our get together in my new little writer’s cubby, so we’ve been busy building a new pathway to welcome my team!

Gravel from the farm quarry, rocks from the paddock and bricks from the side of the road, stable waste from next door along with some silage wrap have gone into this very rustic pathway and garden bed.

Talk about DIY backyard blitz. I hope our humble little home will be welcoming for our visitors from Melbourne and Sydney and let’s hope the Jack Russell hasn’t dragged another bit of road kill to the front door.

Finding balance

One of the sub-plots of my new novel, The Cattlemen’s Daughter is about the mismanagement of public land.

My editor, Belinda and I have been trying to find a balance in my writing so that I not only tell a great story but also deliver a message in a subtle way — without bashing the reader over the head with my viewpoint.

Its a delicate task and is one of the main challenges with this next book, out in October 2009.

I want to entertain my readers and also educate them about what it is to be a landowner in the midst of a bureaucracy that doesn’t seem to understand land management.

It was interesting to see these signs on my way to Agfest in Tasmania’s Midlands that show the frustration farmers have.

The fire that had raged up the highway was made infinitely worse due to the fuel load on the public land, not the private land. Judging from these signs, it seems the thrust of my new novel will resonate with many!

Queening it at Agfest 2009

I’m feeling all ‘Elizabeth Regina’ this morning as I prepare to travel north to officially cut the ribbon to open Afest 2009. I’ve done my speech, found some clean clobber to wear and am about to jump in my V8 red throbber.

Agfest, a premier agricultural field day, starts today and runs until Saturday and is the best farming shindig.

What’s inspiring about it is, its run by Tasmania’s brilliant Rural Youth organisation. If you are not a member… join up.

After I’ve opened the event, and while my family and friends enjoy Agfest, I’ll be in the hotel room, scratching my way through the final edit of The Cattleman’s Daughter.

I’ll be back to feeling all ‘Cinderella-ish’ while everyone else is having a ball! I hope the mini-bar is stocked!

Women from the West

When I sat down to write my first novel in 1999 I had dreamed of seeing more female contemporary rural writer’s on our Australian book shelves. That dream is now becoming reality for me!

Two great country girls from Western Australia have found publishers and both have new books on their way.

Fleur McDonald’s novel, Red Dust hit the shelves this week and Fiona Palmer’s novel, The Family Farm will be out later in the year.

To actually sit down to write an entire manuscript takes guts and determination. To see it through to publication is another achievement!

Well done to my Western Australian writing women, Fleur and Fiona! I am so proud of you both!

Check out their websites: Fleur McDonald & Fiona Palmer.

Rach’s Country Cooking

I’m in mid-edit of my next novel and it’s all-consuming. However, unlike some lucky authors who can shut themselves away, the rest of my country life doesn’t stop!

Last night after slaving over the manuscript, I had to slave over the slow cookers for a Levendale Hall Fundraiser.

Today nearly 50 members of Probus will be noshing on our local tucker. I had no time to go to the supermarket so I rummaged in the freezer to find some of our home-grown steak, grabbed a pumpkin in the vegie garden and swedes down the paddock.

Then I cracked open a bottle of wine to throw in with it all and drank the rest. Voila! Yummy tucker that unfortunately looks a bit like a dog threw up!

At least I’ve grown plenty of parsley to chuck on the top of it to make it look slightly prettier.