My Mrs Hudson werewolf story is coming to its hairy conclusion over on my Patreon. I’ve had a lot of fun playing with the werewolf tropes as well as slipping in a lot of Sherlock Holmes references, and massively enjoying writing so many cool paranormal women: Audrey Hudson, NIck Murray, Myca Holmes and Irene Adler….
Read moreCategory: My Research
Research: Richard III
In case you didn’t know, I’m something of a Ricardian as a result of always having been intrigued by Shakespeare’s play, which is brilliant but hardly believable as documentary evidence of anything except Tudor revisionism. My further reading led me to the conclusion that history’s Richard was hard done by. Whatever his real faults and…
Read moreReview: Murder, Misadventures and Miserable Ends – Tales from a Colonial Coroner’s Court by Catie Gilchrist
Social history, especially as it pertains to murder and crime, will always be a lure to get me into a book. Catie Gilchrist’s account of Henry Shiell’s 33 year tenure as colonial Sydney’s City Coroner through a selection of the cases over which he presided has been on my wish list for a while. The…
Read moreMy Melbourne: Melbourne General Cemetery
I enjoy a visit to a graveyard: Melbourne General Cemetery (which appears in Kitty & Cadaver) is a favourite.
Read moreMy Library: Folklore and occult history
A look at two books from my research library: Occult London and A Celtic Book of Days.
Read moreMy Library: New Acquisitions
A look at three books on history and queer literature I’ve recently acquired.
Read moreResearch: The (invented) Hobart Kites
In the new Duo Ex Machina novella, Kiss and Cry – currently being serialised on my Patreon – I have my muso couple, Frank and Milo, hitting their late thirties and a bumpy patch in their relationship. While Frank is working long hours as a producer now, Milo is burning the candle at both ends…
Read moreAustralian Music: 2014
Over on my Patreon, I’ve started posting cahpters for the fourth Duo Ex Machina book, set in 2014. Kiss and Cry brings Frank and Milo five years on from the events of Number One Fan: Frank is a successful producer and Milo is concentrating on raising funds and doing work with his Foundation. I’m inventing…
Read moreMy Library: Such is Life by Joseph Furphy
In my research about Victorian-era society in the UK and Australia, I sometimes pick up 19th century fiction. Such Is Life – an Australian classic, I’m told – is set in the 1880s, was written in 1897 and not published till 1903. The title comes from what were reputedly Ned Kelly’s last words before he…
Read moreMy Library: Victorian Ladies at Work by Lee Holcombe
I can never pass a second-hand bookshop without at least browsing to see what they might have on 19th century social history, and on a recent rural sojourn, I spotted Victorian Ladies at Work by Lee Holcombe. From a quick glance, I’d expected (and admittedly wanted) a rich history of the working lives of women…
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