Burnt Out is now on Goodreads.com!
Yes yes it is! Here’s my review. Head over and smash that ‘Want to read’ button. Burnt Out by Victoria BrookmanMy rating: 5 of 5 starsPreorder here!Burnt Out is about a struggling, story-less author who loses everything in a devastating Blue Mountains bushfire and suddenly finds national fame and commercial success as a result. But how much is she willing to morally compromise to maintain this success? Set in contemporary…
Read moreBurnt Out – where is it up to?
If you follow me on social media, you would have seen that in November last year I signed a deal with HarperCollins Australia for the publication of my debut novel Burnt Out. We now have a firm release date for this beauty, which is January 5, 2022. But why did it take so long? I’ve written the book, right? Isn’t it just a case of hitting print? Here is a…
Read moreReview: How to Mend a Broken Heart (Rachael Johns)
Summer in New Orleans means hot days, long nights, spooky stories and surprising new beginnings.Felicity Bell has struggled to move on after her marriage broke down. Her ex has found love again, her children have their own lives, and it’s beginning to feel like her only comfort comes from her dog and her job as a taxidermist. So when Flick gets an offer to work in New Orleans for a…
Read moreReview: ‘Sisters of Freedom’ by Mary-Anne O’Connor
Australia’s queen of historical romance Mary-Anne O’Connor has done it again.
Read moreReview | ‘Grace Under Pressure’ by Tori Haschka
Show me a mum who claims she hasn’t, at some point while mothering in contemporary Australia, fantasised about how much easier life would be if she formed a commune with other mums… and I will show you a liar.
Read moreReview | The Valley of Lost Stories
Vanessa McCausland’s latest novel, The Valley of Lost Stories (HarperCollins, 2020), is a beautifully written story which takes place largely in a creepy abandoned mining town. Four women and their children are invited to the beautiful but remote Capertee Valley, west of the Blue Mountains.Once home to a burgeoning mining industry, now all that remains are ruins slowly being swallowed by the bush and the jewel of the valley, a…
Read moreI’m published in issue 28 of the RSR
I’m very proud that two of my poems, ‘Spanish Steps’ and ‘Big Burn’, have been published in the Rochford Street Review (issue 28).
Read more12 lessons I’ve learnt so far from COVID-19 isolation
We’re in COVID-19 lockdown. On day 6 (is it? I think so) here are some things we’ve learnt so far.
Read moreBook Review | Lapse (Sarah Thornton)
Lapse (Text Publishing, 2019) is set in the sleepy country town of Katinga, where protagonist Clementine Jones is coaching the local AFL team while she wrestles with some dark, dark secrets from her shady past.
Read moreDon’t let IWD die
In February 2012 I faced an impossible choice: watch the Sydney International Women’s Day March, an institution of local feminist history and activism, die from neglect, or step up and organise it by myself. It was very short notice. The people who had run the march very well the previous year, a Sydney feminist collective, had decided that organising a march was either too hard or not worth their time,…
Read moreFive Norwegian shows you can stream in Australia right nå
I’ve always been very proud of my Norwegian background, and lately I’ve been learning, speaking, cooking, reading and watching Norwegian whenever I can. I’m not much of a fan of Nordic Noir, so I’ve had to dig a little. Here are some of my favourites, all of which are available to watch in Australia at the moment. Twin (SBS OnDemand)A bit of a freaky Friday scenario, but in a deep…
Read moreReview | Where Fortune Lies (Mary-Anne O’Connor)
Where Fortune Lies (HQ Fiction, 2020) is the fifth novel from Australian author Mary-Anne O’Connor, and tells the story of plucky migrants finding their way in rugged colonial Australia in the early 1880s.
Read moreBushfires and the summer holidays that never were
Down the back, in a gently sloping part of our yard, sits our fairy tree, a magical grevillea adored by kids and fairy wrens alike. A “prize tree” my brother-in-law called it. It’s always been a bit wonky but that was part of its charm. We planted some seaside daisies next to it for the fairies, and later zinnias and bunny ear succulents. The past few months, however, the tree…
Read moreEarth to “Moonman” | An open letter to Lawrence Mooney
Giving breastfeeding mums and kids a hard time on your show is not only a low act, but it’s a dangerous one. It encourages public harassment and discrimination against women.
Read moreTop 10 signs Emma Wiggle is being held against her will
Emma Wiggle is being held against her will. You know it makes sense.
Read more16 things you can say to a little girl that don’t involve commenting on her appearance
Looking after little girls is a great way to witness the insidious effects of gender that society douses kids with from an early age.
Read moreReview | The Bell in the Lake (Lars Mytting)
The Bell in the Lake (Hachette, 2019, trans. Deborah Dawkin) is the latest novel from acclaimed Norwegian author Lars Mytting. The story is set in rural Norway in 1880, which lags about fifty years behind the cities of Europe with their electric lights and medicine, and which is also suffering both a population boom and mass-emigration to places like North America and Australia. The tale centres on an ancient stave…
Read moreBuccarumbi
It’s barely a year since the last fire went through my aunty’s neck of the woods, consuming everything in its path – all their sustainably farmed crops that they’d worked so hard to tend, their very livelihood, all of it gone. Back then the fire stopped just a metre from their home. They were lucky. This time they’ve lost a caravan and god knows what else. Right now my aunty…
Read moreReview | Did You Hear About The Morgans (2009)
Serious question: what is the deal with this film?
Read moreWhy the hell are we still giving kids glitter?
Glitter isn’t just really bad for marine life, it’s a massive pain in the arse.
Read moreNovel writing for dummies
Literary greatness is a social construct, like streets and lunchtime.
Read moreHow to hack a Coles mudcake hack
The internet says that the best cake hackers use a “cheap plastic ruler” to smooth it all out, so get confident, baby. Cheap plastic ruler! I used to use one of those at school! Therefore this cake is doable!
Read moreReview | Ballerina (Netflix) – Rated P for Patriarchy
I generally try to avoid showing my kids overly gendered, patriarchal rubbish in films and tv shows that are aimed towards little kids, particularly little girls. But then I came across this one. Summary: An otherwise promising film about a girl who pursues her interests, pushes back against bullies, works really hard, wins a fierce competition, outruns a homicidal maniac and achieves her dream of becoming a ballerina on the…
Read moreUh, hands off my mummy wine.
It’s school holidays, so prepare yourself for an avalanche of experts expressing their concern about mothers drinking wine! A few days before holidays officially began, as I dragged my kids away from yet another kids carousel that I “didn’t have coins for” (they have PayPass now but I’ll never give in, NEVER!), I came across this comical ad: It’s almost like they know! They can hear the clinks from their…
Read moreSharing the mother load: just YAWN for free childcare.
I feel like I’ve struck gold. Free childcare?! And I don’t even have to get out of my pyjamas?! Fund this. Everywhere. Now.
Read moreBluey: the kids’ show we’ve been waiting for
I’ve always taken a keen interest in children’s programming. As an eight-year-old, I wrote a very sternly worded letter to the ABC’s Managing Director because they’d cancelled my beloved Victor & Hugo (can’t remember what the show was about exactly, but damn I cared…). Of course now that I’m three kids in and often finding myself intellectually under-stimulated, I’ve had hours and hours to pay attention to what our national broadcaster…
Read moreReview | ‘Like Father’ (or: How to make everyone enjoy watching an hour and a half long advertisement)
We’re entering a new and exciting age of filmmaking, in which prominent actors star in hour and a half long ads for large, multinational corporations, and we walk away feeling warm and fluffy inside and googling cruise prices.
Read moreHow to stuff up a unicorn birthday cake in thirteen easy steps
Trigger warning: culinary murder.
Read more
You must be logged in to post a comment.