Storytime

On Sunday we went down to Geelong to visit my step-mum K and to have a 'memorial' lunch to celebrate Dad. Sunday was one year since he died and she wanted to have some kind of celebration. With my aunt and uncle (Dad's youngest sister and husband) and K's niece we went to one of Dad's favourite restaurants by the water.  We enjoyed a lovely meal, watched the boats come and go, raised a glass to PJ and then went to visit the grave site. I'm not a big one for visiting graves but it was fitting on this occasion. As K said, it is hard to believe it has been one year already. In some ways it seems like a few months ago, especially when you ring their home phone and Dad answers. 'You have called Kildare, the home of Peter and Kate.' So surreal to hear his voice like that but comforting in a strange way as well. I wrote a lot of poems when he was very ill. Those months when we all knew the end was very close. I wrote his eulogy, trying to describe ...

One of the worst moments when reading a novel, or even a short story, is when you are pulled out of it. It may be because of a word or phrase and you think 'hmmm that so isn't the character..or the setting..or the time period.'  And once you are out of the story, with a touch of disbelief entering the world the author has created, it is so hard to get back in. To once again, trust the writer. And that is what we do, we trust the writer, we are willingly taken on a ride. Taken on a journey. But we have to believe. Have to totally be immersed in this world...whether it is our world right now, or a previous time...whether it's a futuristic or alien world...a fantastical imagination.  The author has to have created something that we willingly enter. This is why making sure you are using the right voice to tell your story is vitally important. The voice for an adult is totally different to that of a child. Everything is seen differently. From what is happening in t...