I’ve done some file shifting behind the scenes, and now the blog sits at the address http://bronwynparry.com instead of bronwynparry.com/blog/
Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds for the new address http://bronwynparry.com, as the old blog address isn’t automatically redirecting to the bronwynparry.com home directory. I’m sorry for the hassle!
Winter is definitely on its way – we’ve had a few crisp frosty mornings lately, and the thermometer is regularly going below freezing overnight. But we’ve also had our gorgeous, clear, dry, sunny days, so I can’t really complain! Last winter was cloudier and wetter than usual, and so it felt colder without that cheering sunshine, even though the temperatures didn’t dip as low.
Congratulations to the winners of my little Mother’s Day giveaway – Bronwynne, Jenn, Grace and Jenny! Your prizes are on their way.
Life continues to keep me busy! I’m in the middle of marking assignments for my university job, although most of the lecture-notes writing is now done for this semester. That gives me somewhat more time and brain space to concentrate on book-writing in the evenings and weekends; I’m trying to stick to my determination to do no uni work after 7pm, and keep the evenings free for writing, as that’s usually good creative time for me.
It’s likely that I’ll also be teaching at uni in second semester this year, although part-time rather than the full-time load of this semester. The department is short a couple of staff, so the acting Head came to ask me last week if I’d be interested in more teaching. I said I’d be available, on the understanding that a) I have a couple of conferences I have to go to; b) Gordon and I need a holiday together; and c) I’d only teach a course that’s already written – no more having to research, develop and write an entire semester of teaching material while I’m teaching it! (As our uni has significant numbers of online students, study materials have to be prepared for them, as well as lectures and tutorials for on-campus students.) Anyway, there’s a unit that interests me, is broadly in my area of expertise, and which doesn’t need significant revision, so I’m probably taking it on. I’d prefer to be writing books full-time, but at present that isn’t paying all the bills, so it’s off to work I go… and I really can’t complain, as it’s a good, if demanding job.
I’ve been wanting to refresh my website design for ages, but it’s been one of those things that just hasn’t made it to the top of the list, although I’ve been testing out a few things offline. I think I’m going to go simpler than the idea I originally had in mind, though, and I’m close to adapting a more robust, technically-up-to-date WordPress theme with my header image and colours. So, you might notice some changes here very soon. Overall, it won’t look too different; however, I am planning to remove the stand-alone HTML page at bronwynparry.com and shift the whole blog into the main directory. I think I’ll be able to do it seamlessly, but if by chance you try bronwynparry.com/blog (which is the current address) and get an error message, try bronwynparry.com instead.
It’s Mother’s Day, and I hope that all the mothers amongst my friends and readers are enjoying some special time with the family this weekend, and being at least a little bit spoiled!
I wanted to do a Mother’s Day giveaway, but unfortunately I don’t have spare copies of my books on hand at present, and I was also thinking it would be nice to have a small ‘thank you’ giveaway for those wonderful people who have read my books! Yesterday I spent a little time in our warm sunroom, playing with beads (it’s lovely to do something creative that doesn’t take months to complete!) and it occurred to me that I could give away some handmade earrings. They’re nothing very special or valuable – no diamonds or real pearls, but there’s some crystals in some of them, and they’re all glass beads, not plastics. And they’re just a little sparkly fun, for those who like dangly earrings.
So, if you’ve read one of my books, and you’d like to go into the draw to win one of five pairs of earrings, use the form below to answer either of the following questions:
A) In chapter 3 of As Darkness Falls, Bella learns something surprising about her aunt, Delphi O’Connell. What is it?
OR
B). While in Jeanie’s café in chapter 2 of Dark Country, Gil learns that he has a relation in Dungirri. Who is she?
I hope I’ve made these questions about significant enough plot points that they’re easy to answer! Pop your answer in the form before Tuesday 10 May, and let me know which two pairs of earrings you like in order of preference (I can make duplicates or variations of some, but not all as I’m running low on some beads.) I’ll draw 5 names out of a hat/bowl/box on Wednesday and post off the earrings by Friday.
Entry is open to everyone; I will post these overseas. But do please be fair to others and enter only once. The form asks for your email address, but I promise that I won’t be giving away, selling, or distributing your email to anyone.
Edit: form removed as contest over.
One of the things that I couldn’t do much of, while I had an unexploded aneurism in my head, was getting out and about in the bush. Not that I’ve ever been a super-energetic bushwalker, but I do enjoy short walks and seeing the country more than a short distance from a road or carpark! But now that the aneurism’s gone, I can venture further, without stressing about a cerebral bomb exploding.
Yesterday Gordon and I took a day trip to Kings Plains National Park, about 50 kms from Inverell. We walked – or rather, rock-hopped! – along Kings Plains Creek, to where it falls in a series of small waterfalls down through a gorge. Not a long walk, really, only a couple of kilometres all up, but it felt good to be out and about again. Here’s evidence:
I need to regain some fitness and lose some weight, but that will come in time. I definitely feel that hopping over all those rocks and stones marks something of a milestone in my recovery!
More pics from the trip will come when I’ve been through my photos.
It’s rather hard to round up a ‘roo when there’s a glass door in between – but Tansy is giving the ‘roo the eye, anyway!
