1. Some highlights of my Christmas day were,

-watching my 82 year old mum boxing the daylights out of her opponent on Wii, -receiving Shaun Tan’s beautiful illustrated book, The Arrival, from my pets,
-listening to Eva Cassidy’s music, her CD IMAGINE, a gift from my children,
-a Kris Kringle present – a donation to TEARAustralia for trees to be planted in countries where there has been deforestation (what a great idea for a gift),
-knowing the rain has helped stop some of the bushfires,
and lastly,
-enjoying good food and fun company once again with all my family.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas, Happy New Year and good holiday fun!

Now it’s back to work on my latest book Ghost in My Suitcase.

When I write my stories, I see complete scenes in my mind just as if I’m watching a movie. As far back as I can remember I have been able to see whole pictures and always thought that everyone had the same ability or at least could visualise very easily. Training your mind to visualise is an important tool. By using your imagination, you can discover new ways of doing things. It opens up a myriad of possibilities.

The author and lecturer on Goethean science Henri Bortoft says that “it is harder for people today because of TV. Watching TV is something passive. Listening to a radio was more active. You needed imagination.”

But he also says you can train yourself by looking at for example, a leaf, then closing your eyes and creating the shape of that leaf in your mind as precisely as possible. “You are moving around the shape of the leaf in your mind and you follow every detail.”

Your imagination is like a muscle, it needs to be exercised for it to stay active.

It’s early morning.The magpies are warbling but it’s still dark outside. I was kept awake by ideas for stories so I had to get up to write them down. Night time seems to feed my mind with thoughts. Maybe it’s because everyone’s dreams have escaped and are flying around free. Maybe that’s what dreams are – a mishmash of images coming from the dreams of other people. I love dreaming but since I’ve been writing books I rarely dream anymore. I wonder why. Now the dark has given way to half light and I have a wet nosed dog reminding me that she’s hungry.

The sun is a washed-out orange ball as it rises above the lemon tree in the backyard. The smoke from the bushfires that are burning out of control in north-east Victoria is the reason why. The whole of Melbourne is enveloped in a strange pink light and the smell of smoke is thick in the air. I usually have a view from my upstair’s bedroom window but for the past few days there has been no distinction between sky and land. My thoughts go to the people and animals caught up in the fires.