To my granddaughter, about my own kindergarten experience
Can you imagine me as a child, even younger than you? Let me tell you a story about something that happened to me when I was in kindergarten, and then maybe you might be able to imagine me as a little girl.
Here’s what’s good about cockroaches
Wow! When Science harnesses (literally) the insect world, things are getting complicated.
When Teeing-Off and Writing a Novel Collide
Recently two important things happened in my life. I finished writing a novel and I joined this golf club.
How to think kindly about wasps
Most people don’t like wasps. They tolerate bees because they’ve been given a good rap, but wasps!
Scene from the window
The Coprosma, a weedy tree growing hard up against our bedroom window, had to go. But we hadn’t counted on the wattle birds.
Here’s the secret to good writing habits
When I first started to seriously consider writing I was a very mature age student attempting a PhD with the purpose of turning the life of a man I knew into a commercially viable biography.
How I became an accidental novelist by pursuing the story of an endangered butterfly
Of all the different kinds of writing I’ve practised over the years, novel writing is the most exhilarating.
Is childhood more complex for young people to navigate these days?
Talking to my grandchildren I realise life in school in the 1950s and 1960s was relatively uncomplicated.
How significant is the loss of insect life in our gardens?
When I was a kid, insects were all around me in our garden, and they totally fascinated me. Of course I didn’t associate them with anything important – they were just there.