A long week

I haven't felt the urge to write anything here for the past week as I think I have been largely preoccupied with other things. Some of it personal stuff that I wouldn't want to share/ bore anyone with anyway; the rest has been an overriding sense of melancholy directly attributable to the terrible fires in Victoria I suspect. I have found this unfolding tragedy very devastating and I feel a strange sort of connectedness to the country I was born in at this time. This feeling of connectedness is not something that I am that familiar with as I have always felt an emotional gulf between myself and Australia. But seeing all those people and animals suffering so tragically makes me want to cradle my country in my arms and find some way to soothe her.

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On a completely different note I am pleased to report that the story I wrote called:"Courtship, Cutlets and a Barrow Full of Dung" has been accepted for publication in the New Zealand magazing Semaphore (http://www.semaphoremagazine.com/). The story is set in a fictional Australian town about 75 years ago and tells the tale of a man's rather unothodox attempt to woo his beloved. It's a very Australian story I suppose and I feel glad that it has found a home at this time.