Dim's Write Stuff

Short stories. I've been writing them since I first dunked a toe in this business of writing for children. In fact, one of my first ever publications was a short story, An Eggspensive Venture , that appeared in the Blast Off NSW School Magazine back in 2009. I was pretty chuffed to say the least. And the thing that kept me writing them? The enticement of competitions and the myriad of themes to write about. The experience of entering my short stories in so many comps and awards (and even winning a few) and being commissioned to write them for magazines and anthologies not only kept my creative juices bubbling away, it also taught me volumes about submission guidelines and working to deadlines; not to mention what it takes to make a story compelling enough and succinct enough to  fill up the time it takes to suck a mugful of hot chocolate through a Tim Tam. If you are or know a young person who loves making words sing (or Tim Tams) and needs help composing them into p...

If you are aged between 9 - 15 years and are busting to release the scribe within or you know someone who fits this description, scroll down, click the links and register now for one of these awesome school holiday writing camps. These camps will remove the mystery and inject the fun into your stories, allowing you to gain all the gooey, gut-wobbling, groovy EXPERT advice you need to make them as good as a professional author's. I'm super lucky to be involved as a facilitator for these writing camps. Not only are they unbelievably useful, they are mind-blowingly fun, too. So join me these school holidays. The camps I'm involved in for July 2018 are: 40th Meanjin Writers' Camp - Griffith University Mt Gravatt QLD 2 - 3 July Write Like An Author   - Somerset College, Gold Coast QLD 9 - 12 July Click on the flyers below for full course details and the opportunity to register, NOW.  

Life should be about caring and sharing right? And while I concede there's a rightful time and place to smoast (trendy new term and semi-acceptable behaviour for social media boast, but not quite as trendy and acceptable as gangnam style ), I do care to share other things when time permits. And what better time than the school holidays? Sick of dragging the kids in and out of the pool? Tired of endless outings to the local shopping centre? Free-activity'ed out? Broke from repeated visits to other 'worlds'? Seen all the age-appropriate new release movies? Then why not get back to basics with your kids or someone else's if you are short on kids and big on love and time. OK this is where it gets a bit bookish...but this is a wonderful way to spend time with your under 10 year olds, while generating a little creativity at the same time. It takes place over a week - 5 days, but could be condensed to less days or increased to cover the number of days yo...

Two weeks ago, school holidays began for Miss 6 with a Slushie; cola flavour if you please. Yesterday it ended on the same flavour. I indulge her. What's a little extra sugar on the holidays anyway, right? The consumption of this latest cupful of artificial colours and flavours took place at an 'old' new favourite picnic spot of ours in the Gold Coast Hinterland, Hinze Dam . The reason for heading out on such dismal, cold, grey day: Me. I was restless and reluctant to relinquish my hold of the school holidays in favour of the rigorous, routine the new school term was about to unleash. In short I needed a change of scenery. So we packed the picnic basket and umbrellas and headed for the hills. Revamped Picnic area (on sunny day) We were not disappointed. Scenery 10/10. Facilities 10/10. Information 10/10 (cool visitors' centre) Slushies 10/10. And were we fazed by the drizzle? Not at all. We timed our walks, including a trek across the dam wall, in ...

I admire the Mums who work over the school holidays with barely a minute to spare at the holiday care centre doors. I applaud the Mums who juggle toilet cleaning and activity time with their youngsters and still manage to get their hair washed - once a week. I stand up on my chair and cheer loudly for Mums (and Dads for that matter) who can find islands of solitude from which to WRITE whilst supervising happy holidaying kids. You know who you are. You welcome the brief hiatus from routine time keeping, lunch making and shouting imperatives with open lap tops and crackling creativity. You rack up absurd word counts, conjure up amazing plot twists and spend real quality time with your favourite characters, beside your family members of course. Me, minus the cool boots and pink ears and clean hair Oh how I envy your productivity, your drive, your courage. Me, well, I want all these things too. But my school holiday time always seems to dissol...

Dearest England, Forgive me. It's been too long since I've been in touch. But while sorting through my shoe box of snap shots the other day, I came across splashes of colour, images frozen in time, which reminded me of you and of Christmas last. I thought you'd like to see some. I can't believe it's been nearly five weeks since we left Nelson's country. The bracing cold air of Norfolk in winter is losing its bite. The memory of it, burning my cheeks and causing my ears to throb, fading like a dream upon waking. I cling to it just as fervently but it's hard to retain such a memory when the humidity here makes you sweat even as you sit unmoving.  Frost on the field of Norfolk, early morning.  We expected more snow. You gave us the second mildest UK Christmas on record. We expected rain. You cleared away the cumulus revealing crystalline blue skies day after day. It's been raining nearly every week since we got back. Heavy, relentless sub trop...

With little time to deliver a sensible, insightful, useful or otherwise entertaining post, these REALISATIONS grow ever more ostensible. 1. Glitter is harder to vacuum up than you'd think. My vacuum just tends to move it around the house. So if you don't mind your floors looking like a fairy has thrown up all over them, repeatedly, confine all glitter activity to the great outdoors. 2. School Holidays are not a good time to complete your next best seller. In fact abandon all hope of completing anything during this enforced hiatus. 3. I need a new vacuum. 4 . There is no finite number of times you can ask your significant other (aka common old husband) to do something. Better to stick a post it note bearing request to his forehead. He will act on it, eventually, when he feels like it or when somebody else politely points out he has a post it note stuck to his forehead. 5. Children under the age of four really do mean it when they say they love you. Anything beyond ...