Ma Kelly’s Boy ‘Don’t be frightened. Nothing will happen to you. I have a mother of my own.’ Ned Kelly to Anne Calvert while robbing the National Bank at Euroa. On November 11 1880, Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly was hanged for murder at Melbourne Goal. A reporter at the time claimed that Mrs … [Read more…]
The Man in the Moon Half a century ago Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin walked on the moon. On July 20 2019 their moon landing of July 1969 will be celebrated worldwide. Given that there’s no atmosphere on the moon, it’s possible that Armstrong and Aldrin’s footsteps may still visible on the moon’s … [Read more…]
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ‘Kissing your hand may make you feel very good but a diamond bracelet lasts forever.’ Lorelei Lee from Anita Loos novella, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. One of my favourite books is a hardcover 1926 tenth edition of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. So popular was Anita Loos’ novella that it ran to … [Read more…]
The Perils of Insomnia Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast.’ William Shakespeare One of the questions that often comes up when talking to other writers about insomnia … [Read more…]
Easy Rider ‘You watch the white line and try to lean with it . . . howling through a turn to the right, then to the left and down the long hill to Pacifica . . . letting off now watching for cops, but only until the next dark stretch and another few seconds … [Read more…]
Peel Me a Grape Hollywood legend Mae West liked her men distinctly masculine. Her taste veered towards wrestlers, boxers, prize fighters, gangsters and musclemen. At 61 she took up with Mr California, Paul Novak, who was thirty years younger. He was one of the musclemen in her stage show at the time and he remained … [Read more…]
Devilish Desires I’ve just reread Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and it has dazzled me yet again. My favourite line is, ‘The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.’ The characters throw themselves around dramatically and they rarely ever sit quietly. They fling themselves … [Read more…]
We all dress for Bill I never met the New York Times photographer William J. Cunningham but he was definitely one of my most favourite people. Wearing his trademark blue French workman’s jacket, Bill Cunningham peddled around New York on his bicycle, taking photographs of street fashion for his On the Street column. Bill’s … [Read more…]
I Want That Cake ‘Let there be no shame on me tonight!’ Prince Wenzel von Metternich, 1832. The narrator of my novel, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, was named in honour of a very famous cake. Sasha Torte is a world-class Tasmanian pastry chef and she establishes her magnificent cake emporium in … [Read more…]
We Are Amused What is it that strikes a spark of humor from a man? It is the effort to throw off, to fight back the burden of grief that is laid on each one of us. … [Read more…]
Mirka Mora 1928-2018 ‘Every time you show your work, you really show your soul.’ Mirka I never met Mirka Mora, but she became one of my most favourite people. I only know Mirka through her paintings and her wonderful autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous; My Life. Whenever I stop to look at Mirka’s murals – they … [Read more…]
Home Sweet Home One of the questions I’ve often been asked is – how autobiographical is The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte? Given that Sasha Torte is sabotaged by abusive and neglectful parenting, escalating depression and a later addiction to opium, laudanum, champagne, piratical men and hard liquor, the question becomes loaded and … [Read more…]
I’ve frequently been asked by other writers and readers – what are the books that meant a lot to me growing up? And which particular books are my standout, all-time favourites? This is an extremely difficult question because there are so many books that I love! And when things get a tad tricky and … [Read more…]
In a recent interview journalist and former editor, Michael Gawenda, said of his son Husky Gawenda, ‘He can spend a lot of time by himself in his room. If you’re going to be a writer you have to be lonely in some way.’ (from ‘The Two of Us’. The AGE Good Weekend, 11August 2018). … [Read more…]
Eloise and I go way back. At about seven I discovered six-year-old Eloise. She was parent-free, running amuck in the Plaza New York and Paris, with her nanny, a pug and a turtle. I didn’t find it strange that Eloise exercised with champagne bottles, as my sister and I had hidden a bottle … [Read more…]
Freud’s Cigar ‘Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.’ Dr Sigmund Freud 1856 -1939. In my novel The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, Sasha is introduced to the famous Austrian neurologist Dr Sigmund Freud, at The Sperl Café in Vienna. Sasha Torte – world famous Tasmanian pastry … [Read more…]
CLEOPATRA Cleopatra V11 – born around 69 BC – was an object of fascination and gossip even in her own time. She was a child goddess who was married off to her brother and became Egypt’s queen at eighteen. After many poisonings, killings, plot twists and turns, Cleopatra went on to control most of the … [Read more…]
I made a discovery the other day – new born babies don’t enjoy going to the movies. I’d dropped by my local cinema to catch Kenneth Branagh’s, Murder on the Orient Express and didn’t realize that I was attending a ‘Babes in Arms’ movie session. It finally dawned on me – when I stumbled … [Read more…]
When Vincent van Gogh committed suicide in July 1890, aged 37, he’d only been painting for about a decade. He was immensely productive, despite suffering acute nervous attacks and paralysing depression. Vincent willingly spent money on art materials but he ate poorly and had lost most of his teeth by the time he was … [Read more…]
I went to a girl’s high school in Melbourne and was lucky to have a wonderful literature teacher in my final year. She was an intellectual who really knew how to lever Shakespeare off the page and into our devilish imaginations. I well remember the night the whole Literature class went into the city to … [Read more…]
I have a thing for vintage cars, especially Italian Fiats. I once owned a second-hand Fiat Sports that been driven to the brink of ruin. The previous owner was a nurse with a taste for speed and a strong belief in amateur car repairs. Subsequently the wiring under the bonnet was strapped up with … [Read more…]
Melbourne’s Deakin Edge is a strange venue. The whole construction slopes precariously down to the hardwood stage area. Vertigo was apparent on the faces of those pioneering their way down to the front rows during the 2017 Melbourne Writers Festival. Rock icon, Tex Perkins (born Gregory Stephen Perkins), was onstage being interviewed by radio … [Read more…]
The crucifix stage is a raised catwalk illuminated with bare light bulbs. Two mysterious shrouded women sing while the audience take their places at small cabaret tables. There’s haze. A hell of a lot of hazy stage mist is being pumped from an industrial machine. Something perfumes the air and evokes the smell of church … [Read more…]
Ever since I read, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I’ve had a thing for mushrooms. I was about six when I first came across the notorious Alice Liddell, disappearing down the rabbit hole into a fantastical world. The scene where she comes across the caterpillar sucking on a hookah – while seated on a sinister … [Read more…]
Elinor Glyn In 1903 Mrs Elinor Glyn published, Three Weeks. These days the novel is considered a bizarre but fairly tame read, but back then it was the Edwardians version of Fifty Shades of Grey and sold about 2 million copies. In the opening pages of my novel, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte is … [Read more…]