May 2006
Introduction
Wombat News
Awards
New Books
Schedule for This Year
The May Garden
The Most Essential herbs
Grandma's Anzac Biscuits
Answers to some questions about writing
(If you'd like to ask a question about any of the books, or for that matter the care and maintenance of wombats, go to the 'guest book' on my web site www.jackiefrench.com
It's only checked once a month, so it may be a few weeks before you get an answer.)
Introduction
I passed a treasure on my walk this morning. Actually it was just a tatty orange golf ball. But to a bowerbird that's REAL treasure.
Bowerbirds love anything bright, or blue, to decorate their bower. They'd love diamonds and pearls, of course, because they're bright too. But to a bowerbird an orange golf ball is just as good. Better actually- when did you last see a diamond as big as a golf ball?
I've no idea where the golf ball came from. Or why it was orange, come to think of it. (I don't play golf). It's 40 minutes drive to the nearest golf course, up in town, and I don't suppose the bower bird pinched it from there, as town is surrounded by bare paddocks and no bower birds. And a golf ball is a big treasure for a bowerbird to carry off.
But bowerbirds do happily steal from cars, laundries, kitchens - they'll pick out the dollar coins from a pile of change on the dressing table, or run off with the soap, or blue pegs or bottle tops, or try to get the buttons off a shirt on the line. And I've given up trying to grow blue anemones, which flower just as the bowerbirds are turning fanatic and pinching anything they can for their bowers.
Why? Good question. A good looking bower is supposed to attract female bower birds. But I suspect the males decorate their bowers mostly to show off to other males, a 'my bower is bigger than your bower and MUCH better decorated' sort of thing.
As far as I can see around here the female bowerbirds are as likely to mate up with males with dismal looking bowers who just happen to be around at the right time. It's like male blue wrens or yellow robins having a battle over a female- the female is just as likely to go off with the loser when all the fighting is over. But maybe a victorious bowerbird, with the best bower of all, just struts more magnificently and looks more confident and cocky and THAT is what attracts the girls.
Anyhow, back to the golf ball. Probably a bower bird found it in a garden up at Major's Creek, the village up on the tableland between here and town, and carried it off a little way into the bush, then another bower bird pinched it and carried it down the mountain to it's bower, and another stole it from him . . . and maybe six bower bird thieves later it arrived at our place in the valley .... and was dropped next to the path. I went back to see if it was still there a couple of hours later, but it was gone. Treasures like an orange golf ball don't stay abandoned for long. Not in bowerbuilding season, anyway.
Wombat News
Mothball has mange- which is pretty worrying news. Mange is one of the biggest killers of wombats. It is spread by foxes, and it can slowly make wombats blind and deaf and in such an itching agony that they scratch great wounds and these get infected.
It's possible to treat mange with medicine from the vet. But catching one large stroppy wombat and getting her to eat her medicine is not easy. In fact it's impossible- despite the drought there is still some grass around, and while there is grass Mothball doesn't even want to eat carrots or her favourite, rolled oats, especially if I've added some anti mange medicine. And if I tried to make her I'd lose a finger and Mothball still wouldn't eat the oats. (A wombat has to be pretty hungry to eat medicated oats too- they must smell all wrong.)
The other way is to pour some lotion on her back to kill the parasites- or use a pump action water pistol to jet it onto her at a distance. We've tried the last four mornings and nights but whenever we get close Mothball vanishes.
She's not running away- Mothball does NOT run from humans. She's just busy extending her hole again and my crawling down wombat hole days are over. (Do NOT try this- snakes live down wombat holes too. And they can collapse. The holes I mean, no the snakes, though come to think of it the snake might collapse if you crawled on top of it. After it has bitten you of course.)
But hopefully we'll manage to get near to her tonight, or the next night. She doesn't have bad mange yet- just a thinning of fur on one leg, and she is scratching more than wombats usually scratch too. And then we will need to dose her again in a couple of weeks. But she will NOT be impressed.
Awards
The Secret World of Wombats has just been short listed for one of the prizes in the NSW Literary Awards, and They Came on Viking Ships made a Notable Book by the CBC.
New Books
Whacko! The final illustrations are in for Josephine Wants to Dance from Bruce (Whatley)! And they are stunning! Hilarious of course, just like his glorious pics for Diary of a Wombat and Pete the Sheep. But also beautiful- drifting leaves and amazing colours. I never realised before that a book could be beautiful AND hilarious at the same time.
Josephine will be out in October, just after The Goat who Sailed the World- the true story of the very stroppy goat who sailed with Captain Cook. And there's My Auntie Chook the Vampire Chicken in June, or is it July; anyhow, another of the Wacky Family series, and I haven't seen the illustrations for that yet (they're by Stephen Michael King) but can't wait to see what he does with a vampire chicken. Well actually I've seen the cover, and it's pretty incredible. Especially her pink feather boa.
'MacBeth and Son' came out last month – the story of two boys, a thousand years apart, who must decide if truth really matters. One is a modern kid, Luke, who has just inadvertently cheated in an exam for a prestigious school. The other is Lulach, stepson of MacBeth. But this is the historical MacBeth, the hero who was elected king of Scotland, not the villain in Shakespeare's play.
Why did Shakespeare lie? And four hundred years later, does it matter?
The final Phredde is out too, 'Phredde and the Haunted Underpants', and the seventh in the Wacky Family series, 'My Gran the Gorilla'. I've just started work on the eighth Wacky Family, My Pa the Polar Bear, and just finished Pharaoh, about Narmer, or Menes, the first pharaoh of ancient Egypt who unified the towns along the Nile into one country. It's not really a true story, parts of it are as true as I can make them, and are based on what little we know of Narmer, and Nithotep who became his queen and ruled as regent too. But as 'Pharaoh' is about Narmer the teenager, and nothing at all is known about him (but you can make some pretty good guesses) then I suppose the book is fact clothed in quite a lot of fiction.
Schedule for this year
I'm cutting down the number of talks I give these days, for health reasons – I can no longer manage to give talks without a microphone and it's amazing how many school and library microphones cut out after twenty minutes, with a dead battery or loose connection! (And it's really hard to to shrug and walk away with a mob of kids waiting, so the temptation is to keep talking no matter what the consequences.) And lately, the sheer process of a day's travelling each way (even driving the two hours there and two hours back to Canberra) is just too much to do it too often. So please don't be offended if I can't open your school fair, or travel to your town.
But this is what the year looks like:
Saturday, 20 May: Early Childhood Services conference, Brisbane.
May 22-28: Sydney Writer's Festival – not sure what events yet, but there'll be sessions about 'Hitler's Daughter' on the Monday and Tuesday, and a session with Bryan on How to Send a wombat to the Stars at the Sydney Observatory at 4 pm Saturday, with pizza and a gaze through the telescopes afterwards.
June 22-25: Fremantle W.A. a series of talks for kids and adults on everything from books to chooks to wombats and gardens at the Fremantle Arts centre. Contact the Arts Centre for more details.
August: Book Week talks in Sydney and Melbourne (just a few) Contact Lateral Learning for details (bookings@laterallearning.com.au).
August: Melbourne Writer's Festival School days Monday 28th to Wednesday 30th August. Contact the Melbourne Writer's Festival for details.
Saturday 4 November: Talk at the Open Garden Seminar at Major's Creek, NSW. Details from the Open Garden Scheme.
Sunday 12 November: Launch of 'Josephine Wants to Dance' and performance at the Bungendore School Fair, plus a talk at the Wildcare Stall there.
'Hitler's Daughter' Tour
The wonderful people at Monkey Baa are performing 'Hitler's Daughter', the play, this year. I saw the dress rehearsal last week, and it was stunning.
It was a shock to see how brilliantly it was translated onto the stage. It's easy to set big scenes in a book, just say 'the bombs were falling' and suddenly Berlin is destroyed in the mind of the reader. But how on earth do you put that on stage? Or for that matter how does an actor play Hitler without everyone giggling as soon as a small man with a button moustache walks onto the stage?
But they did it. The gum trees in the first scene become an autumn forest in Australia, then as the lights change to red and yellow flames they're the ruins of Berlin. The sounds effects are extraordinary.
And Hitler? I'm not going to describe what they did there. Just that it was brilliant. Extraordinary. And that towards the end I was trying not to sob aloud. (Why is it that laughing aloud is okay, but not sobbing?)
Actually there was plenty of laughing too. The actor who plays Mrs Latter and Frau Mundt and Frau Leib is glorious - and I'm not going to say anything more about that, either, in case I spoil it.
So far the schedule looks like this –
Jackie French's 'Hitler's Daughter' 2006 National Tour
by Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People Ltd
See the Monkey Baa National Tour schedule here
The May Garden
What to plant:
Coastal and northern areas:
Flowers: (seeds in frost free areas; otherwise seedlings): ageratum, alyssum, aquilegia, bellis perennis, calendula, candytuft, Canterbury bells, delphinium, honesty, forget-me-not, lupin, mignonette, pansy, primula, pansy, statice, strawflower (Helichrysum), stock, sweet pea, verbena, viola, wallflower.
Veg: artichoke suckers, broad beans, broccoli/brussel sprouts/cabbage/cauliflower seedlings, cress, winter lettuce seedlings, spring onions, onions, peas, radish, shallots, English spinach seedlings, potatoes in frost free areas
Trees and shrubs: citrus, avocadoes and other evergreen fruit trees, ornamental evergreens and evergreen climbers
Cold Areas:
Flowers(seedlings): saponaria, carnation , gypsophila , pansies, primulas, polyanthus, violas, wallflowers
Veg and fruit: broad beans, rhubarb and asparagus crowns, strawberry plants, cress and onion seeds, shallot bulbs, English spinach, turnip and broccoli seedlings
The Best Herbs of All/Herbal Necessities
Herbs are addictive. No, not THAT sort of addictive. But once you realise that if you can pick anything from an after dinner cuppa to a lotion to ease sunburn from your garden, it is very easy to get carried away.
We grow hundreds of different herbs here. (I am definitely an addict). But for those who want a - well, let's say a SENSIBLY sized herb garden, the ones below are the absolute necessities for a herb enriched life.
How to grow Herbs
The best definition of a herb is 'a useful plant'- and that gives you a clue how to grow them!
Most herbs do best if they're picked regularly- either pruned back by a third at least once a year, or even better, a constant small pruning as they're plucked as needed.
It's a myth that herbs do best in poor soil. Herbs need feeding and watering as much as any other plant- and the more you pick them, the more tucker they need! Herbs that you pick by the handful, like basil and parsley, need feeding at least once a month if they're to grow green and luxurious.
The Most Beautiful herbs
It always surprises me when the plants our guests exclaim over aren't the ones I've planted for their beauty- they're good old useful herbs.
Many herbs are beautiful enough to be grown simply as ornamentals- and some are simply stunning.
Golden Marjoram
golden marjoram is one of the fastest spreading ground covers I know, wonderfully heat and drought tolerant. I grow ours all down a steep bank, and in summer it's a great glowing carpet of gold. In winter or in semi shade the bright yellow fades to green, but it's still pretty.
Plant your golden marjoram plants at any time of year about half a metre apart in full sun. They'll easily fill up the gaps in a growing season!
Growers tip: While golden marjoram is not as strongly scented as oregano, you can still gather a handful to flavour tomato rich sauces, or to scatter on pizza.
Russian garlic
The great purple pink heads on Russian garlic are one of the glories of our garden in early summer. Both the bulbs and stems are much larger than ordinary garlic, but you can eat Russian garlic too- the bulbs are very large, and somewhat milder than the garlic you'll buy in the supermarket.
Garlic prefers very well drained, fertile, moist, sunny soil, though it will tolerate semi-shade and much harsher conditions - but as a consequence the bulbs will be much smaller. Don't try to grow garlic in wet humid summers or in damp boggy areas - it will rot.
Plant Russian garlic cloves in early winter. Enjoy the flowers in early summer, then harvest the bulbs when the top begins to yellow (don't wait till it dies down completely or the bulb may rot).
If you don't pull harvest your Russian garlic, the bulbs will multiply, so you'll get great gorgeous clumps of Russian garlic that will bloom year after year.
Growers tip: pull up Russian garlic bulbs straight after flowering, before the 'paper' between the cloves has formed. you can use them like mild garlic flavoured onions- truly delicious.
The Best Herbal Teas
Most herbs lose a lot of their flavour when they're dried, and unlike humans, the older dried herbs are, the more flavour they lose. The taste of older herbs changes too, fresh chamomile tastes of flowers and sunlight; elderly dried chamomile tastes like where the cat's been (okay, I haven't exactly tasted essence de moggie, but you know what I mean).
While tea and coffee keep most of their flavour for years, if you want the best possible herbal cuppa, you need to grow your own.
Lemon Verbena
Possibly the best herbal tea is lemon verbena. It's one of the few herbal teas that most men enjoy, though you may have to threaten to wrench their teeth out to get them to admit it.
Lemon verbena is a sweet smelling bush about one and a half times as tall as you are. It loses its leaves in winter, but you can dry the leaves easily by leaving them on a sunny table for a couple of days, and taking them indoors at night.
Lemon verbena tea is made just like ordinary tea, but triple the amount of leaves. You can drink it with milk, but it's best without, either plain or sweetened with sugar or honey. It's also great chilled. It's a gently relaxing tea- it won't make you nod off, but it does help relieve stress on those days too horrible to describe.
Growers tip: drinking lemon verbena tea is said to increase clairvoyant powers!
Peppermint
Peppermint tea is an after dinner tea - a good way to ease indigestion after you've eaten long and well. DON'T use ordinary mint for peppermint tea, and certainly not spearmint- it tastes like toothpaste. You need either black or white peppermint or apple mint, or even the rarer lemon or orange mint, for a good peppermint tea.
Grow either peppermint or apple mint in full sun or semi shade in a fertile moist place. Prune it back or pick it often, or it'll become straggly. Peppermint dies down in winter; apple mint stays put except in incredibly cold climates.
Be warned though- apple mint is VERY vigorous, and can become a weed. If you don't want it exploring all over your garden, plant it in a pot, or choose variegated apple mint, which is prettier, and much less vigorous.
Mint leaves can be dried, although I wouldn't keep them more than two or three months or they'll lose a lot of their flavour. Make the tea in the same way as ordinary tea- 1 good spoonful of fresh or dried leaves per cuppa.
Chocolate Mint Leaves
Melt a little good quality chocolate; add a few drops of peppermint oil - one drop per tablespoon of chocolate. If the chocolate seems a little dry, add a little oil or copha - not water, which will turn it grainy.
Take perfect looking mint leaves and coat the fronts with the melted chocolate. When they are dry peel off the leaves gently. The chocolate will be leaf shaped and delicious. Eat them after dinner; use to decorate cakes; or scoff the lot before anyone else finds them.
The Best Eating Herbs
There are a squillion herbs that can be used for flavouring food, but if I had to choose just four they'd be - basil basil, lovely basil; chives, parsley and thyme. Once you've got those four you'll have the luxury of being able to add fresh herbs to just about everything all through the year- and all of them grow very nicely in pots.
Basil
Most people don't realise that while common basil dies down in winter, you can also grow perennial basils that will give you leaves for cooking for years and years.
Perennial basils are killed by heavy frosts, but in cold areas you can keep them on a sunny windowsill in winter, or grow them next to a large heat retaining rock. Perennial basils have smaller, furrier leaves than common basil, but they can be used in the same range of dishes.
One of my favourite forms of perennial basil is sacred basil (Ocimum sanctum). It has a much sweeter scent than common basil, and an almost flowery taste. It is incredibly delicious with anything cooked in coconut milk, and good chopped into tomato dishes too.
Basil MUST be fed every three or four weeks in summer or it will be pale and stunted; you MUST prune off all flowers and seed heads, or it'll be straggly and the leaves small and tough. Keep picking off the tops though and it'll bush out beautifully.
Simple Basil Sauce for Pasta
Blend equal parts basil and good olive oil; mix in with hot spaghetti; sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese or a scattering of chopped FRESH walnuts (older ones can be bitter or rancid). Either common basil or sacred basil can be used in this recipe.
Parsley
Give parsley full sun and lots of tucker. Moisture stressed parsley can be attacked by aphids or develop root rot when it is watered again.
Sow parsley seed as soon as the soil feels warm.
Pick parsley often, and chop it into just about everything, except possibly ice-cream. Parley is a great way to get the family to eat their greens without realising it.
Growers tip: Parsley goes to seed in spring- but if you cut off the seeds heads as soon as they form you can keep harvesting last year's parsley till your new parsley is ready to harvest.
Chives
I adore chives- either the thin round ones common ones or flat leafed garlic chives. Common chives die down during winter, but garlic chives can be harvested all year. Both are very pretty while flowering, and look lovely as an edging for a flower or herb bed.
Chives prefer moist fertile soil, prefer full sun but tolerate semi-shade. Sow seeds in spring or divide clumps at any time.
Chives can be cut repeatedly and used wherever you might use onions, scattered on omelettes or sandwiches - and a thousand other culinary uses.
Growers tip: Try not to pick all the leaves at one time - this may exhaust the plant. Pick a few leaves from each plant instead.
Thyme
Thyme is probably my most used herb- and it's one that simply doesn't dry well. if you want the thyme's true fresh subtle fragrance you have to grow your own. There are literally thousands of varieties of thyme, all with subtle variations in flowers and taste.
Thymes prefer slightly limy soil, well drained, with good sunlight. Thyme will tolerate even the heaviest frost, except for older 'woody' plants that can be damaged in cold weather. Cut back older plants by three quarters every year and this problem should be eliminated.
Growers tip : If your thyme is very woody or if it has been damaged by frost spread moist soil over the stems. The bush will 'layer' itself by growing new roots from the stems and within a few months these new roots will stimulate new growth to cover up the bare patches in the middle of the bush.
The Best Medicinal Herbs
Just about any herb you can name has a medicinal use, and more and more herbs are being investigated commercially for their medicinal potential. Two absolute necessities in our garden though are aloe vera and chamomile.
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera needs moist, well drained soil - it will soon die in wet soil. It won't tolerate severe frost or severe heat - in tropical areas it is best grown in semi-shade. I grow ours in a hanging basket over sun reflecting paving and it survives winter okay - not happy, but at least alive.
How to use aloe vera:
Cut a leaf and squeeze the jelly on dry skin, eczema, minor burns and rashes. (But NOT on broken skin- seek medical advice) The pain will be relieved and the gel will speed up healing.
Traveller's Aloe vera gel
I wrap a leaf in plastic wrap and keep it in my make up bag, just in case. But you might also try:
Ingredients:
2 aloe vera leaves
6 vitamin E capsules
a small opaque jar
Mix the gel with the contents of the capsules. Keep in a dark, cool place i.e. your handbag - or better still, the fridge - till needed.
Chamomile
Chamomile can be confusing to the herbal beginner. There are two chamomiles - the perennial Anthemis nobilis, and the annual Chamomilla recutita. They look very similar, and the fragrance is much the same too- and they are both used for chamomile tea,
Chamomile does best in full sun in moist fertile soils. It prefers temperate conditions, though it can be grown in semi-shade in sub-tropical areas.
Both chamomiles grow from seed. Perennial chamomile can be grown from runners as roots form wherever the stems touch the ground. Annual chamomile often self sows.
Chamomile tea
Pick the flowers in the early morning just as they begin to open. Either use them fresh, or dry them for use during winter.
Cover a tablespoon of fresh or dried flowers with two cups of boiling water. Leave till cold (chamomile needs at least 10 minutes steeping to release the active ingredients). If necessary reheat to make the tea more palatable. Drink before bedtime when you are stressed or if you have a cold or hay fever.
Herbs in pots
For most of us a potted herb garden is all we will ever manage, so it's a good thing that most herbs are quite happy in pots, as long as they are cherished.
As with any potted garden, choose the biggest pots you can. Small pots dry out faster, and plant roots heat up or freeze faster. Feed with a slow release plant food in spring and mid summer, and water often- few plants do well it their roots are alternatively dry then waterlogged.
If you're a herbal beginner, plant just one herb per pot. Some herbs are so vigorous they easily outgrow their companions. once you know their growing habits you can experiment.
Herbal hedges
Herbal hedges are stunning, useful, hardy and usually fast growing, although like all hedges they need to be regularly trimmed to keep them healthy and attractive. Any of the lavenders can be hedged, except perhaps sprawling French lavender (Lavendula detata). Dwarf lavenders make sweet neat hedges around flower beds.
One of the most fragrant hedges I know is a rosemary hedge. Plant about 200cm apart, and trim as soon as the branches start to touch. The more you trim the top the thicker the growth will be.
Other good herbal hedges include rugosa roses (great for rose hips to add to your herbal cuppa) fruit salad or pineapple sage and lemon verbena
Growers tip: If you want a really neat hedge, grow your bushes with a tightly strained wire in the middle, to keep the bushes upright.
Plant each bush about half a metre apart.
Herbal Ground Covers
If you have a hot dry bank or even a small rockery, herbs are some of the most attractive ground covers around. Many of the thymes, with their bright lavish flowers, look lovely sprawling over rocks or spilling over walls. Prostrate rosemary with its bright blue flowers too is wonderfully hardy, as are winter and summer savoury.
In moist shady areas areas gotu kola (Centella asiatica) makes a great ground cover.
Windowsill Herbs
Most herbs need fresh air as well as sunlight - stick them near a window that you open often. With luck you can grow basil all year round - a luxury in cold winters; try coriander, oregano or marjoram, chives, chamomile (pick the fresh flowers for a relaxing tea - even if you don't like dried chamomile teabags (erk) you may love the taste of the fresh flowers), sage, thyme, rosemary (keep it well pruned by picking it regularly) or dwarf lavender (not above the sink though - it'll get mildew), mint (mints are great by a well lit bathroom window - the whole room smells of mint - but don't try it if you have frosted windows as they may not get enough light).
Most herbs need lots of heat and thrive by hot windowsills, but they won't take humidity, so keep them well watered but well aired, away from other pot plants with lots of moist foliage that might increase the humidity around them. With luck a VERY big pot of basil, tansy, feverfew or wormwood will help stop the flies from coming in.
Parsley is the perfect potted standby - even if it stops growing in winter outdoors it may still keep unfurling new greenery on a hot windowsill. I like to have parsley where I can grab it easily otherwise I forget to use it, which is a pity because even kids who don't like their greens will eat chopped parsley in other dishes. I nibble parsley toward the end of the month when I need a quick fix of iron As a general rule grow each herb in its own pot - some herbs can overwhelm others.
Herbs that naturally die down in winter will become unthrifty if kept unnaturally alive indoors. Take plants that require dormancy like your tarragon, turmeric, ginseng et al outdoors for a month or two so they can get back into a natural seasonal rhythm.
Also - the more you pick your herbs the healthier they'll be - new growth is more disease resistant. This is yet another reason to use your herbs lavishly. After all, a garden on the windowsill is there to use, as well as to delight you.
Grandma's Anzacs
This is my Grandma's recipe for Anzac Biscuits). Women baked and sold 'soldiers biscuits' back in Australia during world war one to buy 'comforts' for the troops (soap, cigarettes, chocolate- things they wouldn't have otherwise) and after the war the biscuits became known as Anzacs.
This recipe comes from the book Grandma started about 1910 and kept for another 70 or so years- recipes for fruit cup for tennis parties in the 30's, eggless sugarless cakes in World War 2, how to make coffee in the 50's, her first quiche and spaghetti in the 60's, (no recipes of course for the things she made every day, like stuffed shoulder of hogget (elderly lamb) or date scones, apple tea cake, baked custard with preserved peaches.
Anzacs (Soldier's Biscuits)
1 cup plain flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sugar (I use brown sugar)
3/4 cup desiccated coconut
125 gm butter
2 tbs golden syrup
1 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
2 tb boiling water
Melt butter in a saucepan with sugar and golden syrup and oats over a low heat. Turn off the heat. While still warm add flour, coconut, then the soda dissolved in the water.
Place teaspoons full on a greased tray, then press each flat. Take about 25 minutes in a slow oven, about 150C.
They'll be pale gold and fragrant when done, but still squishy. Take off the tray with a spatula, and leave to cool and get crisp. Store in an airtight jar. Best freshly baked, of course, but still excellent a fortnight later.
Answers to some Questions
(If you'd like to ask a question go to the 'guest book' on my web site www.jackiefrench.com
It's only checked once a month, so it may be a few weeks before you get an answer.)
Q. Hi Jackie, I'm entering a Young Writer's Award and I have no idea what to write about! We can only use 500 words and being restricted to that amount makes it really hard for me. I haven't got any ideas. You probably can't give me any cos your not allowed and cos that's cheating, but, I dunno. Please tell me what u think I should do.
A. Think of the past two weeks. What are your most vivid memories? Playing with the dog? Some news item?
The stuff you remember most vividly is what moves you most, which will give you a clue what to write about! It's MUCH easier to write about things that interest you.
If you love horses make your main character a horse. Or a dog. Or a dinosaur.
And with only 500 words DON'T SPEND TOO LONG ON THE INTRODUCTION! That is the main mistake beginning writers make in short stories; the start takes 300 words, then they rush the rest.
Try writing the end first! (This is a really good way to make you think about your story before you start writing, too.)
But do write about something that really moves you . . .if you find it boring so will the reader! Good luck! J.
Q. Is Tom Appleby based on a real person?
A. Hi - No, there was no convict called Tom Appleby, as far as I know- though 'Tom' was one of the most popular names. Tom was inspired by John Hudson, the youngest convict, who was only 13 when the Fleet sailed - see Grim Crims and Convicts for more about John and what happened to him. (It has just been released by Scholastic as part of our Fair Dinkum Histories).
I'm glad the class like Tom! I grew very attached to him too! All the best to you and grade 5, Jackie
Q. Hi, I'm 18 and I'm too broke to get anything proof-read or published. I have no other talents apart from writing and I have recently been informed that even that may not be enough to earn the few hundred thousand pounds a year I want. In a word I NEED HELP. I read your stuff on first time writers and all that, but I need more, like guidance or something; and maybe some direction. I don't know if my words are enough to captivate adults but I really don't want to write for kids. You're a great writer by the way, but you probably heard that a zillion times today already. A reply would be much appreciated, but don't feel obliged to humor me if you think I will never make it as a writer. Thank you (if you took the time to read this).
p.s In England you don't have to apply for a copyright, you just have to put a copyright symbol on the manuscript, but where do you put it and how does that prevent anyone from putting a copyright symbol on your work and saying they did it first?
A. To be totally brutally honest ... there are about as many successful (i.e. a few hundred thousand pounds a year) writers as there are brain surgeons i.e. it's possible but you have to be VERY good.
A tiny minority of writers produce good stuff at your age. Most though produce books that are 98% good, and that 2% means it's not publishable.
You don't just need a talent for writing. You need to have material- fiction or otherwise- that is so fascinating that people want to read it. It is MUCH easier to do this when you're older and your brain has had more time to glean a few bits of interesting data and come to the odd original conclusion.
And having another career, which help give you material to write about, even if it's just as a dishwasher. (In fact dishwashing is a great way to observe humanity but that's another story.)
But you don't need money to get published or proof read- the publishers pay you, and they pay for proof reading. But you do need an extraordinary amount of self discipline and ideas. Other people can help improve your writing style, but they won't be much help with the ideas.
I'm sorry not to be more encouraging! I have a feeling you WILL be a writer - but not this year and just possibly maybe not even this decade.
There are other jobs though that need writing skills- journalism, public relations (And there are even good clients to work for) advertising, speech writers, science writers, but we're now getting into an area I don't know much about. Good luck! And though you may not like to hear it- keep working at your writing and have patience!
All the best, Jackie French
Ps. I was in my late twenties and desperately broke, (with a baby living in a shed in the bush) when I sent my first book away. There is nothing like desperation for making you lift your work to the best possible level you're capable of.
Q. Hello Jackie, I hope you get this soon I'm doing a project on you and one of the questions are When this author started writing and I cant find it maybe you could reply to me in an email and tell me. Thank-You
A. I wrote my first book when I was six, Tresses and the Unghostly Ghost- the headmistress liked it so much she had a copy printed for every kid in the school- after she corrected my spelling. I started writing books in my early 30's- not quite sure now how old I was, especially as it took many years for my first book to actually be published after it was accepted. All the best, Jackie