Look what arrived at out house...

Two new arrivals this week.
First... this lovely new chicken coop made locally in Malanda...

Isn't it ingenious? So easy to move around. And of course some chickens to go in it... four little future layers.

Yes, I know what they say about not counting your eggs before they're laid, but I'm dreaming of our own free range omelettes. I've been buying free range eggs for decades, but it will be lovely to have our own. Not sure why we didn't get round to this earlier.
An then, at the PO...my box of Zoe's books. We were too excited to worry about makeup or tidying the kitchen.

A perfect hero?

I think the cover gods may have stumbled upon the ultimate prototype for romance heroes...

What do you think?

In my absence...

I imagine that you've guessed I'm busy -- both with real life stuff and my deadline. Last week, one of Australia's favourite romance writers visited us -- the wonderfully talented and lovely Marion Lennox and her husband came to lunch -- and would you believe, I forgot to take a photo?
Marion was busy with her new camera, however, and she took these pics of us and our place, which I'm leaving as a substitute for a proper blog until I get my head above water (in another day or so, I hope).

And when they went to the Millaa Millaa falls, they were lucky enough to see this cassowary.

A book lover's weekend

I’ve spent the weekend at the Townsville Literary Festival which was fun, and a chance to catch up with all sorts of interesting people in the writing world, including the lively new Brisbane based YA author Christine Bongers.

I was on a panel with Christine (discussing the Miles Franklin winning novel The White Earth with Matthew Condon and James Maloney) and sat next to her at a book signing, so had a chance to chat, although she had a long tail of eager kids lining up to see her.

I liked her and the sound of her books so much, I’ve bought them for my granddaughter, Lucy (signed, of course), and on the short plane trip back to Cairns (less than an hour) I started reading Dust.
It’s set on a farm in Central Queensland back in the 1970s (so it’s based on Christine’s on childhood) and I can see already, that it contains the best elements of good kids’ fiction – fabulous characters, a strong voice, sympathy, warmth and humour.

I’m looking forward to reading Henry Hoey Hobson before I send them on to Lucy. :)
It was also great to catch up with Carla Hutchinson-Reid from the Townsville Writer’s and Publisher’s centre.

But my weekend away has pushed my other exciting news almost clear out of my sieve-like brain. I'll be back soon to tell you about my great research trip out west to Cobbold Gorge.