The Long Road to Reading and Arithmetic

Pyjama Angels...changing young people's lives.

Hello, I'm a Pyjama Angel. I want to tell you about The Pyjama Foundation and the fabulous work it does with foster children.

This is an official poster of The Pyjama Foundation. The purpose is to raise awareness of the difficulties experienced by foster children and how this impacts their learning. This Sunday, 24th March, The Pyjama Foundation is conducting its major fund raising event for the year in Queensland with The Long Road event. This event involves non-competitive walk events throughout Queensland and Sydney. If you want to be part of this worthwhile event register here today: http://thepyjamafoundation.com/downloads/reg-long-road-home.pdf

It's going to be a fun event. I'll be attending the Gold Coast event bright and early on Sunday morning walking and chatting with other participants.

The Pyjama Foundation assists children in foster/statutory care. These children often come from traumatic backgrounds and have a hard time trying to understand and where they fit in the world. The Pyjama Foundation has started a literacy and numeracy program for the children. For one hour per week, a Pyjama Angel visits the child to help them with reading and/or their arithmetic. Apart from being a mother, it is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Every week I sit with my special child and I help them with their reading. There is much sharing about our day and what we are interested in, and then we read and play games or make up our own wacky stories. To share with a young mind is beneficial to their and my own creativity and it's my way of giving back to my community. These children desperately need to be able to read and understand basic numeracy, like every other child, but it is their circumstances that make this road more diffcult for them.

If you don't have the time to walk this Sunday, perhaps you would like to help this organisation achieve their financial goals by giving a donation. Thank you. These children need these basic skills to ensure they have a future.

Rose Dee - A Passion for Tropical Islands

Rose Dee

January is my interviewing Aussie authors month, so keep dropping by to see who I'm interviewing each week.

Today, I'm interviewing Australia's newest author, Rose Dee. Rose's passion is writing about the islands off the coast of Queensland. Welcome, Rose!

Tell us about your debut release, "Back to Resolution" and what inspired you to write this romance novel?

When I decided to ‘have a go’ at writing something I had no idea it would end in a book length manuscript. I didn’t really have a plan or preconceived idea of the end result. I just wanted to see if I could write something. "Back to Resolution" is the culmination of my imagination and my experiences in tropical North Queensland. It has a bit of mystery, drama, and a great portion of romance.

Who is your favourite author and what is it about their work you like?

If I had to narrow it down, I would say Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre is my ultimate favourite), and in a more current sense, Tamara Alexander. I very much enjoyed her Timber Ridge Reflections series. While settings are important, it is the character analysis that draws me to a story. I love the sense of knowing who the characters are at the end of a novel, and not wanting to say goodbye to them.

What books did you read growing up? How have they influenced the person you are and your writing today?

When I was a child I loved books and reading. As I grew into young adulthood I read a variety of teen romances, as well as classics (Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, etc.). I love both contemporary and historic romances. Any story with a romantic theme is acceptable reading material to me, so when I decided to write this was the one criteria – got to have romance.

What does a typical day look like for Rose Dee?

Apart from the household, mother and wife duties, we run our own business so there are always tasks to perform in the office. I endeavour to find time to write, blog, or contribute in some way to my writing. I’m not a planner, so I will write when I have the opportunity, or when inspiration strikes. I never sit down to slog through something if it isn’t working for me. I will often leave my writing for days or weeks, and do something else – like a blog. I would dearly love to have the time to write every day, but the fact is – 24 hours goes by too fast.

"Back to Resolution" is the first book in a series. Why did you write your first book as part of a series rather than a stand alone?

I didn’t plan to do a series. Three quarters of the way through writing "Back to Resolution" I found myself thinking a lot about one of the characters and I knew she had a story of her own. It was a natural progression to tie her in with the first.

Back to Revolution by Rose Dee

Thanks so much for your time today, Rose.

Rose's debut novel, "Back to Resolution" is available at Koorong, Word and Collins bookstores. It's selling quickly, so make sure you secure your copy. Should you want to know more about Rose visit to her website: http://rosedee.com

Goodbye Mornington Peninsula

Beach sheds Mornington Peninsula

Autumn has arrived on the Mornington Peninsula: the days are getting shorter and the temperatures lower. Bit cool down this neck of the woods for this Queenslander so I'm ready to move on, but I look forward to re-visiting in the future.

Next Monday we leave this interesting peninsula and move to the next stage of our journey which is a week in Melbourne before heading east.

I wanted to share this photo of the beach huts at Dromana. They reminded me of Enid Blyton's Famous Five series I read as a kid. When I read those books about secret tunnels and sheds by the beach my imagination was hooked. Do theyreally exist? Perhaps in England, but I hadn't thought about the sheds being in Australia, nor did I picture them being as colourful as those in the picture. Locals have told me the council recently required they be kept in good condition, hence the bright colours.

Now I'm curious to know what is stored inside of them. Perhaps a small row boat that can be lifted into the water; fishing tackle; beach umbrella/shade cover; or perhaps the owners use it for storage of all those surplus items they have no room for in their homes. During our stay here I kept my eyes peeled hoping I'd see someone accessing their shed, but no luck, so I'm left more curious than ever.

Another interesting thing was these sheds were advertised in a real estate magazine ranging from $50,000 up to $250,000. Puts a completely different meaning on 'men's shed' doesn't it?