Helene Young's Blog, page 3

“Older love is different to a young love with all that wide-eyed optimism. It’s more cautious, yet liberating. It’s careful yet wild. It’s passionately sexy yet respectful of bodies that have borne children, changed shape, been broken and healed.”

Come and join in the conversation about ‘love for all ages’ on the Australian Romance Readers Association blog. There’s a copy of RETURN TO ROSEGLEN up for grab.

ARRA BLOG

 

Today I’ve dropped by Honestly Woman to talk about my publishing journey and how life sometimes changes direction on our behalf without any consultation!

Find the article here :

Honestly Woman.

And don’t forget to get your entry in for the Book Club Set Giveaway of Return to Roseglen – check out the post here.

Thanks to Kathy Mexted and her brilliant ideas I spent a couple of hours hanging around in the window of The LABoratory, a women’s fashion store in Pakington St, Geelong.

I loved the images Kathy captured and I hope to see more of The LABoratory if we can hatch a plan – more about that later

“At times like these families should be coming together, not tearing each other apart.

On her remote North Queensland cattle station, Ivy Dunmore is facing the end of her days. Increasingly frail, all she holds dear is threatened not just by crippling drought, but by jealousy and greed – and that’s from within her own family.

Can Felicity, who’s battling her own crisis as her fiftieth birthday approaches, protect her mother and reunite her family under the homestead’s faded iron roof? Or will sibling rivalries erupt and long-held secrets from the past break a family in crisis?”

I can’t believe it’s finally about to happen!! RETURN TO ROSEGLEN is 31 days away from being in a bookstore near you. This story, more than any of my previous six books, is special to me. In the course of writing it I lost my mum, a dear friend in her late eighties, and then my mum-in-law. The three matriarchs left a large space behind that won’t ever be completely filled…

At its heart RETURN TO ROSEGLEN is a story about the ‘sandwich generation’ of women who juggle careers, adult children, maybe even grandchildren, menopause, mid-life changes, and their ageing parents.

It’s also a tribute to the generation of women who lived through World War 2 and lost loved ones, but who soldiered on, raised families, built communities and survived to a grand old age. It’s about the battle to maintain their place in the world as their joints begin to stiffen, their eyesight dims, their world shrinks and they become dependent on their children as the roles reverse.

Sadly, during my research for the novel, I heard too many stories of family betrayal, misappropriation of wealth including houses, veiled threats and sometimes outright violence against an ageing parent…

It’s something we as a community need to talk about and guard against. I hope that RETURN TO ROSEGLEN helps that conversation along. To assist with that I have two sets of five books to give away for books clubs. To enter the draw you need to tell me about your book club, how often and where you meet, and why you’d like to read RETURN TO ROSEGLEN.

There are a few ways you can enter.

You can leave a comment below.
You can leave a comment on my FB post or other social media platforms.
Or you can send a message through the contact form on my website.

I’ll pick two winners on 16th June and will then post the parcel of five books out to your nominated address. I’d love to see photos of your book club group reading the book as well!!

I’ll have another competition once RETURN TO ROSEGLEN has been released for book clubs – something a little different – but I’ll post details of that a little later.

And of course there will be more opportunities to win advance copies of the book.

Meanwhile you can pre-order RETURN TO ROSEGLEN with any good booksellers and at the following links.

Amazon.com.au

iBooks

Booktopia

Dymocks

Kobo

Angus and Robertson Bookworld

Book  depository

Google Play

Amazon.com

Penguin

 

Let me say upfront that I’m a bit of an Anglophile – clearly, since I married a man from Manchester and he’s still by my side thirty-three years after we met!  I’ve always thought the Royals bring a special little touch of romance to a country that can be rather grey and dreary…

But the latest royal wedding seems to have divided people in a way I find perplexing. What’s wrong with a young couple in love tying the knot? (And a small snippet of useless information for you – that expression is rooted either in Roman history where the groom had to undo all the knots holding the bride’s girdle together, or Celtic history where the hands of the lucky couple were tied together.)

Okay, I get that some of you might complain about the cost, but this from a nation that’s prepared to pay the EU 40 billion pound to exit from that dysfunctional marriage? In light of that I don’t think this little shindig is anything more than small change! And think of the tourism opportunities.

But the personal attacks on Ms Meghan are not only pathetic but worrying. To see her so vilified in some circles that social media providers have had to shut down the comment sections on their stories is very, very sad. At a time when the #metoo movement continues to gather momentum I’m amazed that people can’t see that their behaviour is unacceptable and exactly what women all over the globe are standing together against. Seriously, people, she’s a person with feelings, frailties and the right to her privacy.

Young Harry’s been through the firestorm of grief, dealt with it eventually and has now blossomed into a hard working guy who’s giving a great deal back to the world. More power to him for taking his mother’s legacy – no matter your opinion of Lady Di she left a huge void and a grieving public – and giving voice to those who need it.

Meghan and Harry have the star power and the ability to bring change, blaze trails and make the world a better place.

I say we should wish them only the best in the years ahead. Marriage is fraught, difficult, challenging, amazing, full of comprise,  laughter, companionship and love. They, like all of us, will need support from those around them. Let’s embrace them and send them on their new journey together with our blessing and love.

 

I know it’s a first world problem, but being an author comes with the responsibility of an ‘author photo’. I love being behind the lens of a camera, but don’t enjoy being in front of it. However, with Return To Roseglen only weeks away from release, I needed to update my photo. Capt G assured me people wouldn’t recognise me at any of the reader events if I kept using the photo from the magazine article in the Cairns Profile back in 2012. He may have a point… Charlotte Rose did take some wonderful shots, but sometime in the last 6 years I’ve developed laugh lines, or something similar, and silver in my hair!

Luckily for me Kathy Mexted is a friend who’s talented with a camera and lives outside of Melbourne. She was kind enough to invite us to stay with her and her family for a couple of nights. By the time I left, after having a lovely time exploring the district with her and talking writing and photography, I was spoilt for choice with so many lovely photos. But then comes the tough decision. Which one to use??

I’ve decided to use all of them. Which one do you prefer?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being moored in the middle of a bustling city is fascinating, noisy, invigorating and at times overwhelming. I’m loving exploring the laneways and buildings of Melbourne, but the contrast from remote Bathurst Harbour to Yarra’s Edge couldn’t be more pronounced.

Cities always surprise me with their manmade beauty. Throw in a slice of natural beauty, like a sunrise or sunset over glassy water, and the results are stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sitting at Constitution Dock in Hobart wearing ugg boots and a woolly jumper – a sharp contrast to our usual cruising grounds!

It’s been a busy few months for Roo Bin Esque and the crew. We’re survived New Year’s Eve on Sydney Harbour – a truly awe-inspiring display of fireworks.

We crossed Bass Strait in 36 hours, encountering fog, glassy seas and light winds.

We climbed Mt Ossa as part of the Overland Track and could see all the way to Mt Wellington in Hobart.

We’ve almost circumnavigated Tasmania and be reminded of Mother Nature’s might and power.

We’ve met fascinating people and made new friends.

And now our journey northwards begins. Graham and I are already planning our next trip to Tassie and who knows, we might even find somewhere to call home down here on the south island.

2018 brings a new book for me. Return to Roseglen is a step in a different direction for me. It’s a family drama that delves into what makes families fracture at a time when they should be drawing closer. It’s a story about the ‘sandwich’ generation of women juggling, careers, children, ageing parents, menopause, mid-life crisis and marriage dilemmas of their own. It’s a story about the women I know and love who’ve faced these challenges and became stronger for the pain. I hope it resonates with readers. I’ve already started the next book and am enjoying digging deep into what makes people unique.

I’ll be touring when Return to Roseglen releases on 2nd July, 2018 so keep and eye out for me in your district! And until then, happy reading!

It’s been a strange old year and, whilst we wish we were on our way to New Caledonia, playing with the whales of Hervey Bay has chased away the blues.

These giant curious animals have wallowed and played in the shallows beside us, seemingly happy to check out Roo Bin Esque’s hulls and to allow their young ones to get up close and personal with humans. It’s a humbling experience to watch a new mum initially keeping her baby away until, after an hour of circling, they both slid silently under the boat.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud as we watched a whale sneak up on another, who was lolling on its back warming its belly in the sun, and give them a nudge, leading to some frantic thrashing. Being woken in the night by the sound of a blow and feeling the boat move in the eddies they create is wonderful. They are a reminder that life can be simple and joyful.

Here are some of my favourite photos and videos. My hard drive is full of tails and flukes and noses

Are you casting around for a present for your father – father’s day is just around the corner – or for a friend overseas who loves all things Australia? Or perhaps a present for yourself because you love Australian Bush Poetry?

Look no further. Talented Australian poet, Tim Borthwick, has a new book out on 24 July. His poems are beautiful. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll feel like you’re sat around the camp fire with a mug of tea and a marshmallow toasting on a stick.

If you love audio books then you’re also in for a treat as Jack Thompson reads Tim’s poems. Just stunning.

Nip over to Booktopia and pick up your copy.