January 26th 1788: Britain settled Australia for the Empire and considered it "Terra Nullius" - an empty land. However, history tells us it wasn't empty at all. For 50,000 years it had been brimming with life, culture, laws, politics, narratives and art. It was, and still is, a land full of wonder. Celebrated annually as... Continue Reading →
Blog
Prince of Fools – A Review
I came to meet Prince Jalan a good few weeks after the novel was released worldwide, thanks to an extraordinarily slow postal service from the UK to the antipodes now known as Australia. This was made significantly worse by the need to have the parcel delivered to my home in the middle of the Queensland... Continue Reading →
My Season of Sad
Christmas makes me sad. At first it probably made me happy, then it made me very angry. Now it makes me sad. And so very full of guilt. I get it. It's Christmas. Cool. I wish there was a way around it, a way I could press eject and get off the ride, but I... Continue Reading →
Handy, not so handy
My dear Noodlers! I've neglected my poor blog of late but not for lack of trying. In August I stumbled up the stairs at home and used my right hand to catch my very small fall. The following day I wrote some 5000 words on the Blood of Heirs draft, thinking the ache in the... Continue Reading →
Space, Time and a Pale Blue Dot
Husband and I went for a date tonight, and a Journey Through the Cosmos with Professor Brian Cox and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. The fabulous talk given by Cox was supplemented by amazing live music inspired by our solar system and our exploration of it. Yet one moment took my breath away... Prof Cox flicked... Continue Reading →
The Cup of Life or Death
After years of mixed feelings, I'm calling it quits on the Melbourne Cup... Actually, for that matter, all forms of horse and animal racing or performance. For the second year in a row, a Cup racer has died. This year, favourite thoroughbred Admire Rakti finished last after a poor start and collapsed in its stall... Continue Reading →
A Dream
Grrrr I want to write so badly!! In lieu of new words, I found & edited some I wrote at the Brisbanep Writers Festival: "I had an awful dream... They were gone; cut away and shattered. When I spoke they responded as if only sleeping. Rolling with a groan, disturbed yet not waking. They heard... Continue Reading →
Radio Interview – The Great Basin Escape
Thanks to ABC Rural, my little blog and our story of redundancy to renewal has gone to air! It's short and sweet and I don't think I sound too bad. Maybe I do have a voice for radio! ABC Rural - Interview - Mining Redundancies
Short Story Repost – “A Fool’s Lot”
Back in March this year, the lovely ladies of Bloody Cake News hosted a short story competition. In celebration of Mark Lawrence's new novel, Prince of Fools (out now), the task was to create a 300 word short including the word 'prince' and 'fools'. I, of course, forgot to ever post the actual story to... Continue Reading →
Alicia Wanstall-Burke 