My other half refuses to sit down at my computer any more because he can’t type using my keyboard. I guess, looking at this picture, I can understand why. I type so much, and probably a little too fast and too hard, with the tough fingernails I inherited from my mother, and the letters have worn off many of the keys. And this is the second keyboard I’ve been through in about a year.
I don’t usually notice because 95% of the time I touch type, but there are odd occasions …

You might remember how my mother solved my “shower thinking” problem by finding me some waterproof notebooks which I can use to jot down ideas that come to me while I am in the shower. Well, there are now two more things I have to tell you today about waterproof notebooks. Who would’ve thought it was such an important topic?
First off, I’ve discovered yet another great use for waterproof notebooks for fiction writers. Or for any writers, I guess. Thanks to some lovely pregnancy-related dramas (pelvis problems and leg swelling, …

Books are not usually the stars of cool photos, but this is really an exception. Recently at Bondi Beach in Sydney (oh, how I wish I could have popped over to Sydney and seen this in person!) a furniture store (one I like, but nonetheless won’t plug on my blog) set up this display of bookshelves and organised a “book swap”. You could bring your own books and swap them for ones on the shelf, or just take a book and give a gold coin donation, with proceeds going to …

Sara, one of my cats, who doesn’t talk in her sleep
Inspiration for fiction writers can come from all kinds of places. I’m always on the lookout for quirky stuff that might just set my creative juices flowing when I’m not feeling in such a creative mood. And there’s nothing like a bizarre website like Sleep Talkin’ Man to inspire you.
Apparently this British guy talks in his sleep pretty much every night, and his American wife records what he says (not sure when she sleeps!). She then blogs it the next …

Just before Christmas, a colleague of mine excitedly recommended a book she was reading (thanks, Kath!): The Doorbells of Florenceby Andrew Losowsky. It’s quite a special book to look at – a small hard back with nice quality paper, full of colour photographs, graphics and an attractive font. And it’s not only attractive physically, but the whole idea of it is absolutely adorable.
Basically, it was inspired by Losowsky’s random decision to photograph a bunch of doorbells in Florence. Fortunately, Italian doorbells are a lot more beautiful than my rather uninspiring …

Well, the deadline has arrived, and I haven’t even procrastinated too much, because I have already submitted my entry for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for 2010: the novel now titled Bratislava. Three cheers for me! Interestingly, in the process of my revisions I went through a folder I had labelled “Bratislava novel” and found a most interesting file which seemed to be the very first idea I ever had for the novel, and it went like this:
I’m not quite sure what, but I really want to write a novel …

Snow outside my building in Bratislava
I’ve had a lot of trouble choosing a title for my current work in progress, the one I simply refer to as my Bratislava novel. But I finally have, and I thought I’d share how it came about, although it’s nothing to be particularly proud of and you probably won’t learn any great tips from this story: although you might empathise, perhaps. Here goes:
Choosing a title is both an important and a nonsensical business. As I understand it, publishers change the title of a novel …

I just read an interesting post at Christina Katz’s Prosperous Writer blog about creative couples – husband and wife/partner teams who are both working in a creative area. Christina mentions that her husband also works in a creative area (in theatre) and they’re able to provide each other with mutual support, which is pretty important.
Which made me reflect that I’m lucky, too. My husband actually works as an engineer (some might argue they make some creative building decisions, but he would definitely not say that it’s a particularly creative job) …

Two weeks ago I told you I was on a roll with my Bratislava novel draft; before that I promised to finish this novel to enter it in the Amazon contest soon. Well, it looks like I’m well on track. It’s been finished for a bit now, and I’ve got into the revisions and editing, and although another month or two would be great, I think I can still make it with a pretty decent version of the way I’ve always imagined this novel turning out.
I’ve been meaning to post …

We recently spent a couple of days staying with my father at his property about an hour and a half away – way, way out of the city. Being a much earlier riser than anybody else there, I usually had about two hours of free time in the morning before anybody else in the house got out of bed. This was perfect for some uninterrupted writing time – and this is the view I had to enjoy while I did it. Complete with birds, (unwanted) rabbits and lizards to observe, …