Ramblings of an Australian Writer

Those eyes, by the gods, those eyes held Mario's and Mario felt he might be drowning in them.

"Call me Jonas," the blue-eyed Doctor said, moving towards the young heir, hand extended.

"Thank you. And," Mario took the offered hand, shaking it warmly, "call me Mario. Please."

"All right."


- From Orbiting Jupiter, WIP.


Image from NASA.

"The Tarn will be safe. No one in their right mind would attack a Tarn for any reason, whether it was occupied or not. And occupied by a full company of Varangians with assorted weapons? They would be dead before they could say 'Oops.'"

Blaise laughed again, "'Oops'?"

"You would not believe some of the things people say when they realise the mistake they've made in attacking Varangians," Stefan said.


From The Broken Mountain, book one of The Order of Shadows trilogy, a work in progress.

Samael toyed with a feather that had fallen from one of his wings, the long, black plume longer than those of a peacock. Angel wings were more than ten feet long at their fullest stretch, Archangel wings being longer still. Thus, their feathers were longer, finer and stronger than those of birds.

"Is that from your wing, Uncle Sammy?" John regarded the feather in fascination.

"Yes." Samael smiled, holding the feather out so they could see it more clearly. There was a deep, rich indigo sheen to the feather, more visible when direct sunlight shone on it.

-- From 'No Quarter'.

I'm still very tender and sore, still very tired, so I'm not blogging/writing or anything at full capacity yet. But I had to do a Six Sentence Sunday, so here it is!

This week's Six Sentence Sunday is from my short story Sunburnt Country, out in serial form in the Something Happened on the Way to Heaven serial published by Less Than Three Press and out at the end of August.




He was about to say something when Raziel stopped dead in his tracks and stared, pointing.

"What on earth is that?"

"It's a big blue whale," Tommy said calmly.

"I can see that, but ... why is it here?" Raziel stared at it.

"It advertises beer, mate," Tommy stifled a laugh behind a cough.

"It's made of solid concrete," James added helpfully, grinning broadly at Raziel's astonishment.



*~*~*

erastes posted a link of 15 YA/Children's books you should read, and then posted a list of her favourites. Before I passed out last night, I pondered this myself and below is a list that is a little bit longer than fifteen - mainly because I couldn't choose. Oops!

Books I loved as a child/young adult:

1. The Stone Cage - Nicholas Stuart Gray
2. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
3. Carbonell (trilogy) - Barbara Sleigh
4. Star Ka'at - Andre Norton
5. Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis (esp. The Last Battle bc of Jewel the Unicorn.)
6. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
7. Gobbolino the Witch's Cat - Ursula Moray Williams
8. The Water Babies - Charles Kingsley
9. V - A. C. Crispin
10. The Silver Brumby - Elyne Mitchell (and the rest of the Brumby books.)
11. Cats in the Belfry - Doreen Tovey (and all her other books.)
12. The Famous Five books / The Malory Towers books / The ...of Adventure series - Enid Blyton
13. Watership Down - Richard Adams
14. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Ian Fleming
15. The Phoenix and The Carpet trilogy - E. E. Nesbit
16. The Black Stallion - Walter Farley
17. Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
18. Born Free - Joy Adams
19. The Green Grass of Wyoming - Mary O'Hara
20. Forever - Judy Blume.

A lot of books featuring magical and/or talking cats and other animals. It's a mixed bag, really. What are some of your favourites from childhood/teenagerhood?

Photo: Original walls of Constantinople, taken in 2008, via Flickr.



Even before his first glimpse of Misahuen at the gates of Constantinople, Gallienus had been a frequent patron of the taproom of The Grape Vine. It was no great surprise to the innkeeper or his family that Gallienus continued to drink there at the end of his shifts. That Misahuen was, more often than not, Gallienus’s companion during the long evenings did not seem strange, for Gallienus was well known to be fond of conversation and well liked by those who knew him.

However, Gallienus knew he had to be careful. The law was such that he did not dare state openly how he felt about Misahuen; even hinting at it was enough to make him nervous. He had come to the conclusion only a few days after their first conversation in the taproom that he was attracted to the man.

-- City of Gold.

Other Six Sentence Sundays.

Six sentences from a work in progress novel, the sequel to City of Gold. Where the first story takes place entirely in Constantinople in the year 1131AD, the sequel, City of Jade, takes place on the Silk Road, from Constantinople to Chang'an, China, now modern-day Xi'an.

*~*~*

"I did not know you had that," Gallienus said in surprise.

"I hunted often when my homeland was at peace." Misahuen's eyes were narrowed, his entire focus on the riders thundering towards them.

"Are you skilled?"

"Skilled enough."

Gallienus nodded, returning his attention to the riders and when they were in range, he gave the command.


Other Six Sundays.

From No Quarter.

Gabriel looked around, taking in the shape of the land, the glint of sunlight on water on the river in the distance. It was quiet, save for the sounds of birds and small animals who made their home here in the greenery of the hills near Xi'an and he felt instantly more relaxed and at peace.

"Beautiful spot," Gabriel sat down on the grass, lying back and leaning on his elbows. "Should take you to Mt Aspiring in New Zealand one of these days. That's my favourite place to relax and commune with nature. It's... beautiful, although beautiful isn't a strong enough word for how lovely it is."


Other Six Sentence Sundays.