Christmas was low-key but lovely. We gathered for family lunch at my parents’ home, and enjoyed a delicious meal, with everyone contributing something: my brother-in-law made a light entree of asparagus and smoked salmon; for main course, my niece and nephew made a selection of salads; BIL baked a ham; and my mother baked a fish stuffed with mushrooms and other yummy ingredients.

Christmas feast

For desserts, my niece made mangoes in countreau, and my Christmas pudding came out of the steamer without falling to pieces!

Christmas pudding

All in all, a very pleasant day, and wonderful to spend it with my family. On Boxing Day, we had lunch with my sister and her family at the hotel we were staying in, then visited my friend of many years, Alison and her young daughter, then had a light dinner (prawns and avocado) with my parents.

Our three days in Canberra were quite busy, visiting family and friends, so there was not much opportunity for taking photographs. We travelled back to Armidale over two days, exploring some back roads, and breaking the journey in Mudgee. Unfortunately there was a great deal of rain while we were driving on Saturday, producing some local flooding in Bathurst as we were driving through there – although a couple of feet of water wasn’t a problem for our Landcruiser:

Minor flooding in Bathurst

Yesterday we stopped in the small town of Coolah for morning tea, and were pleasantly surprised by the café that’s opened since our last visit. Like many small regional towns, Coolah faces economic struggles, and the café’s decor wasn’t as polished as Sydney standard, but the service and food were better – including a proper tea pot for my tea!

Morning tea at Coolah Café

From Coolah, we took a winding dirt road through one end of the Liverpool Range, near the Coolah Tops National Park, and through Pandora’s Pass on to the Liverpool Plains:

View from Pandora

Then through Quirindi, Werris Creek, and Tamworth, picking up our dogs from the kennels at Arding on our way back into Armidale. The dogs were pleased to see us – Jaffa, our Princess Dog, trying hard to convince us that they hadn’t fed her at all while we were away – but her plump tummy gave her away!

Now we’re home, and settling back into routine. Gordon has this week off work, and is planning to do some bushwalking with our friends as well as some jobs around the block. I’ve got a book deadline to meet – so for the next three weeks, my computer and I will be in constant contact!

We’re in Canberra, Australia’s national capital, and the city where I grew up. It’s 40 years this month since my parents moved their young family from Melbourne to Canberra – and boy, has it changed in those 40 years!

For those who don’t know Australia’s history, when the separate colonies federated in 1901 to form the Commonwealth of Australia, the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne was such that it was agreed that the capital of the new nation should be a new city, established between the two large cities. The site and name for Canberra was announced in 1913, but then the First World War interrupted development, and it wasn’t until the 1920s that things really got underway, with the building of Parliament House, various government offices, and accommodation for workers and public servants and the growing town.

The history of the city is on my mind, as on this visit we’re staying in Olim’s Hotel Canberra, which was the original Hotel Ainslie, and built in the 1920s to accommodate Members of Parliament and senior public servants. It opened in time for the grand opening of Parliament House, and many distinguished guests stayed here for that occasion. It’s been restored and renovated over the years, and is now a lovely place to stay.

Here are a couple of views of the courtyard from our balcony:

Olims Hotel Canberra

Olims Hotel Canberra - accommodation wing

We’re heading off now to walk down the avenue into the city – we’re about three blocks from the city centre, but in a quiet area. We’re meeting my sister for coffee in a huge shopping mall, the most recent extension of which is only a year or so old. Back when I lived in Canberra, my first part-time job was in the city centre, in a department store which is no longer there, and the city centre was almost dead some evenings. But Canberra’s population has grown rapidly over the years: just 80,000 when we moved here in 1968; a little over 200,000 when I moved away to Armidale in 1988; and now around 350,000 – with all the shops, businesses, and busy-ness that entails!

It’s the morning of Christmas Eve. I’ll try and post again, perhaps with some more photos, but if I get caught up in family fun, I might not get a chance before tomorrow – so best wishes to everyone for a joyful Christmas. May there be much love and laughter in your day!

Some good news to end the year with – we’ve accepted an offer for UK publication for As Darkness Falls and the next book. Piatkus will publish ADF in around September 2009, with the next book in the first half of 2010. I’m very pleased that my book will be with Piatkus – they have a great list of commercial fiction.

The German sale has also been finalised, so that’s two parts of Europe where the book will be available in the future. There’s no US sale yet, but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for that.

…to make fruit mince tarts:

Fruit mince tarts

My mother has always made numerous batches of tarts, every year for as long as I can remember. Now I live a long way away, and don’t always get to Canberra for Christmas, so I asked her for her recipe a few years ago, and started making my own. They’ve become part of my Christmas season traditions, and, although we are going to Canberra this year, I made this batch today, as we had some friends over for afternoon tea.

Maybe I’ll take another batch to Canberra with me, to see how they compare to Mum’s!

I’ve made some bookplates, on nice quality, adhesive photographic paper, and for a limited time – until next Friday, 19th December – I’ll post a signed one to those who request one. The bookplates are designed to complement the cover of As Darkness Falls, and will fit on the title page of the book, between my author name and the publisher’s name.

So, if you’ve got a copy of As Darkness Falls, or if you’re giving one as a gift, and would like a signed bookplate for it, please use the form below to request one. I will aim to post it by, at the latest, the second working day after I receive the request – but please note that I can’t guarantee that they’ll arrive before Christmas. (It takes at least a day for mail just to get from here to Sydney, and at this time of the year there’s a lot for Australia Post to process.)

Please provide in your request:
1. The name you’d like the bookplate made out to
2. Your full name and postal address
3. Your email address, just in case I have any queries