My wife Shirley and I recently spent the weekend in a charming chalet located in one of the former rooms of Margaret River’s oldest hotel.
We were, as we have been for several recent years, enjoying one of WA’s premier literary events, the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival. In one of the State’s loveliest areas and most famous wine regions, you have the chance to listen to well-known (or less well-known) authors talking about their work and you can learn about developing your literary skills – e.g. how to write your memoirs. The highlights for us this year were the amazing Richard Fidler telling us about his ”Book of Roads and Kingdoms”, Hugh Mackay outlining the principles behind his seminal “The Kindness Revolution” and the hilarious interview between Aussie screen icon Bryan Brown and journo (and obviously good mate) Jane Caro.
Bryan has just published a collection of short stories and is writing his first novel. If you are a writer, or thinking of becoming one, you can hardly fail to be inspired.
Which leads me to the news that my third book, “Twilight in the Forest”, is about to be published. It follows the family whose story was told in “Under the Same Moon” and “Shadows in the Sun”, taking them 30 years forward into the Kenya Colony in the decade after World War II when the surge towards independence was starting to change people’s lives and bring many of those lives to an end.
Further information on the exact dates of the books launch will follow in the coming weeks.
Watch this space!