Babinda magic

The heat shimmers on the road as I drive south. The sugar cane in the fields is all newly planted and the stacks at the sugar mills stand silent guard over their domains. The sky’s turned pale blue as though the light is too bright for it.  Summer has arrived. In North Queensland the razorback Continue reading


Sealed with a kiss

The first thing I noticed at the welcoming cocktail party for GenreCon was the bass note to the buzzing conversation. The second thing was how many familiar faces were there from fellow writers to readers to publishing industry professionals. I’m a regular attendee at RWA conference and those romance writers know how to party, but Continue reading


Writer adrift?

Time to break out the champagne – and this time it’s not to celebrate the launch of a new book (although that’s coming in June 2013!!). No, this time champagne is called for because, after fifteen years of dreaming and planning, the next phase of our lives is suddenly here. We’re about to become live-aboard Continue reading


Fame at any cost? How far would you go?

Well roll me over and tickle my tummy! (It’s Zeus here, just in case you thought Helene was getting kinky in her middle age 😉 ) The things you find on the internet… I’ve always prided myself on staying aloof from the paparazzi and that whole celebrity media thing. (Who wants to be caught in Continue reading


Perfecting the pitch?

Sadly my singing voice is definitely in retirement and my flute is unlikely to ever be pitch perfect again so I’m not talking ‘perfecting the pitch’ in a musical sense… Today I’m over at the Romance Writers of Australia blog talking about my journey from pitch to publication. RWA is running a series of interviews Continue reading