It seems like every second day is something day. I guess it’s a traditional that goes way back – to major religious/cultural events like Christmas or Passover or New Year’s Day. Then there are the ones specific to countries. Here in Australia, we have occasions like Australia Day, ANZAC Day and Cup Day (hooray for Australia- we have a public holiday for a horse race).

More recently, special days have been established to celebrate various groups within our community. I suppose it started with Mother’s Day and Father’s day. We now have a bunch of other days designed to raise awareness of underrepresented groups or issues – International Women’s Day, World Refugee Day, World Cancer Day, World Autism Awareness Day, and so many others. I think this is a good thing. It’s important to ensure that these people or issues don’t slide off the radar. On a lighter note, we also have May 4th as a special Star Wars day (May the 4th be with you…) and International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19.

Writing presents so many challenges.

With every story that I write, there are a number of stages to go through, each of which requires a significant investment of mental energy.

Hooray. 2020 has arrived. And the best thing is, I can begin the year with a pun. A really bad pun. So here we go. Here is my vision for 2020 – my 2020 vision!

Okay, so maybe not the most auspicious way to get a year started. But, as with any other year, I like to focus my very first post on considering what might be in store and what I would like to achieve.

Oh 2019. It seems like I hardly got to know you. And yet there you are, quickly coming to an end, like a long distance runner somehow putting on an extra burst of pace as they draw near to the finish line. How does it always happen? A new year begins, and just as I’m settling down and starting to get a sense of what it’s all about, it’s suddenly over.

As my bio states, I’ve lived in Melbourne all my life except when I haven’t. I couldn’t describe it in a truer way than that. Besides a couple of stints OS, Melbourne has always been my home. Born here, grew up here, bought a house and raised a family here. You name it and Melbourne is where I’ve done it.

After all these years, I’m kind of fond of my old home town. I like the fact that it’s a big city, but not too big. I like the fact that it’s not the first place people think of when they think of Australia, but it’s kind of up there. I like that it’s a city with a diverse population, with interesting neighbourhoods and many different faces. It’s a city of art and culture, a city of literature (officially) and also a great sporting city. I feel like we’re Australia’s great introvert city, compared to Sydney, the city of extraverts (and yes, I deliberately spelt it with an a, so take that, dodgy spell checkers).