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Ian Bone Q&A

Q & A with Ian Bone, author of The Song Of An Innocent Bystander, the September Book Of The Month in The Australian Women’s Weekly (Penguin Books, $18.95). The plot takes off like a runaway train, when nine-year-old Freda Opperman is separated from her parents at a fast food outlet and is caught up in a terrifying siege.

Q Am I correct in saying that this is your first adult book, having written, about 13 books for children and teenagers?

A In writing the book I wanted to push the boundaries as it were, towards writing for more of an adult audience. I have to say, I also believe that a lot of young adult books have a lot of appeal for adults as well.

Q You’ve had 13 books published?

A It’s probably more like 20, but because that includes four Bananas In Pyjamas and four Wiggles books, it sounds like a bit of a brag.

Q Did writing for television come before writing books?

A Yes. Television was my first love, although as a kid I read a lot. I was a bit of a sophisticated reader. I was reading people like Herman Hess and people like that. I went to the Australian Film and Television School, and graduated from there.

Q What was you first job in TV?

A First, it was making little educational films then I went straight into Playschool. And I did Playschool for over three years, when Noni Hazlehurst was still doing it.

Q So did you start writing books while you were still in TV?

A Yes, I was making TV for the ABC, working on this show called Swap Shop, dramatising short stories and with the arrogance of ignorance, I said “I can do this” and I had a go at it. And everyone said, ‘Well, these are pretty good.’ As much as I enjoyed working for the ABC – I was there till 1993 – I found I was spending all my nights writing these books. I wrote five that never got published. I realised that something had to go and I was even starting to think television was beginning to take away from my writing.

So I made a decision, either brave or foolish, to go. I had an enormously supportive partner, I must point out. So I left my job at the ABC and became an author. It was huge because I’d won national and international awards for TV programs. I’d reached a point at the ABC where I would either have had to go into middle management or change direction in some shape or form, but that wasn’t the move I wanted to make.

The popular story is that it happens overnight. For most people it doesn’t. I have a nice collection of rejection letters.

Q Did you keep them?

A I have a little box in my garage. It’s gathering dust, but there they all are.

Q You didn’t perceive it as a great setback when you were rejected?

AIt spurred me on actually. For half an hour or so it felt like…’Oh, God, this is horrible’. But it would actually spur me on and make me think I can do better. The first time I really wrote for myself was when I wrote a book called Fat Boy Saves The World, which was published by Lothian. I put aside all notions of what would make a good book. In fact I looked at all the books for young adults and teenagers and said, ‘I want to write something completely different.’

What was important about it with regards to my writing was that in the book I asked things about what is the value of life? What is love? I explored the other side of life other than getting on with work or boys or girls or whatever, I went deeper and addressed the spiritual aspect of life. That book appeals to a lot of adults as well as to younger people.

Q The plot of The Song of An Innocent Bystander is fabulous – how did you come across the idea?

AIt came from a few areas. I had been talking to someone a few years ago about parents who exert a very powerful influence on their children, to the point of almost brainwashing them. Around the same time there had been a siege in an aeroplane where people had been held hostage for quite a number of days. And I remember reading one of the accounts of one of the Australians involved, talking about the various reactions of the people on the plane and how some people had fallen into the Stockholm Syndrome, which is where a person being held captive will start aligning themselves with the person holding them. It’s a documented and recognised response. Then I remembered the Patti Hearst story, which I grew up hearing and I re-read her book. But really the initial idea came form that conversation about children and how they can be so taken in by the strong world around them or by any strong ideology. How they need to cling to something. It can be anything because they are not as discerning as we are. So it grew from that.

To me a nine-year-old girl is the perfect person, because she was old enough to look after herself, but young enough to be taken in by what was being said and what was going on around her. To be affected by a whole lot of messages both said and unsaid.

Q I was impressed by the rising tension and terror you re-create during the siege. I found it very gripping and found myself wondering if you’d ever been a hostage – or did you get someone to tie you up in a room for three days?

A There have been brief moments in my life where I have experienced fright, but no, I’ve never been a hostage. I remember one incident when my wife and I were chased by these young guys, who chased us to our car and smashed the windows as we drove away. So you draw on things like that. I read first-hand accounts of people who had been involved in sieges. I might be old-fashioned, but I think authors, good ones, can imagine themselves into any situation. I wanted to recreate that real feeling of the stale terror of the place, of being held by this capricious madman. And the responses people will have that are not always predictable.

Q How did you choose the name Freda?.

A I can’t write a book until I have the character’s names . Not a word, it’s crazy. So I sit, sometimes for days, wondering and fiddling around with names. I can’t tell you anything logical about where that name came from, but when I got it I said, ‘That’s her, that’s her!’ Once I get the name right, the character starts to form in my mind. started writing the book about three years ago. I do a lot of other writing as well. I still write for TV, I can’t get away from the monster. Believe it or not, I write Here’s Humphrey. I also write a lot of video scripts. I have been working for a production company on a pilot of a TV min-series about a mass murderer, with a twist, but I can’t say any more about that right now.

Q By writing for Humphrey, who doesn’t speak a word, do you mean that you set up scenes for him?

A No, everything is fully scripted. Then the actor interprets it as Humphrey. He acts out the lines. I do talks about Humphrey to school kids and the best question I ever had was from a kid at Coober Pedy who asked: “Have you ever been inside Humphrey?” And there was just this beat and then the whole room erupted in laughter. I said, If you’re referring to his suit, I’ve never been inside it.

Q So Humphrey is your bread and butter while you’re writing books?

A Yes, but it’s also enormous fun writing Humphrey. I really love writing Humphrey, I really do. It’s just Laurel and Hardy for pre-schoolers. He has simple motivations really. He just wants to sing and dance and have fun.

Q What about the book’s title?

AIt took me a while. I can write without my title – but I do like to get my titles tied down fairly early. It was always going to be about an innocent by-stander.

Q How did you get the book published? Did you send early chapters, or a finished manuscript or what?

A I approached Penguin Books. I took the first few chapters to Laura Harris at Penguin Books. And I hadn’t had anything published with Penguin at that stage. I asked her what she thought of it and she fell in love with it straight away. It was about the first 50 pages of the book, really.

Q Are you writing another book for the adult market?

A Most definitely, I have one in mind already. Called Love Cuts. It’s about six characters all in their early 20s and it’s told as six short stories, from each of the character’s perspective. So there’s a continuing story through it. They’re all friends and they all know each other. It’s an exploration of the different forms of love, which has been done before, but it’s something I want to try. There’s fidelity, devotional love, devoting yourself to one person through really tough times, romantic love and unrequited love. So that’s what I am going to work on next.

Q Is Penguin publishing that one?

AYes, I have a two-book deal with them.

Q You were born in Geelong.

AYou can take the boy out of Geelong, but you can’t take Geelong out of the boy. I grew up there, did my paper rounds as a lad.

Q So you’re still a Cats supporter?

A Oh yes, absolutely.

Q What did your parents do for a living?

A Dad was a factory worker at Ford. My mum was a secretary. I come from a family of five. I have a twin sister. We were the last, so I have two older brothers and an older sister.

Q Does your twin sister write?

A No she’s a legal secretary. I’m the only one who writes. I was always regarded as the crazy one.

Q Why did you move from Victoria?

A I went to Sydney to go to the Film and Television School. And graduated there in 1982, after three years. Then I worked for the ABC. Left it in ’93, but in that time we had left Sydney in 1989 to go to Adelaide. Sydney was getting tougher and tougher. We loved it, but we felt it was a place for young people, unencumbered with kids. My wife is from Adelaide originally. Adelaide is such an easy city to live in. Every time I go back to Sydney, it reminds me of how easy we’ve got it. Everything’s there, but on a much smaller scale.

Q Educated at?

A Belmont High School, then Rusden Teacher’s College, then three years at the Film and Television School.

Q How long have you been married?

A Oh gosh… my son is 16, we got married after he was born, so for about 15 years, I guess. I have a 16-year-old son, Jack, a 12-year-old daughter called Elinor and a six-year-old daughter called Bridie. And a golden retriever called Louis.

Q Describe your living surrounds.

A We live in suburban Adelaide, in a sandstone bungalow which was built in the 1920s. The ghost of the original owner used to come and visit us, but he seems to have left now.

Q A real ghost?

A Yes, we used to see him in his pyjamas and dressing gown. He was wonderful. The garden is beautifully done by my wife, Liz. I dig holes now and then, that’s my only contribution.

Q Tell me about your wife?

A Her name is Liz. She’s a social worker. She works 3 days a week, and on those days I do the pick-up and drop-offs of the kids to school.

Q Where do you write?

AI work in a shed down the back garden. I’ve had it for a year now. Prior to that, I was in a corner of lounge-room and that was a bit tough, I can tell you. So I built a little shed, but it’s got everything I need. A perfect little quiet space away from everything that goes on.

Q Do you have a view?

A No, I don’t want a view. I liked to be totally locked in my own little cave, in my own world.

Q Do you have set hours for writing?

A Usually, if I’m not doing the school drop-off, I get out there about 8am and come in around 5.30-6.00pm. For lunch, I just grab a sandwich and keep going. If you’re working on something like this book you can’t just turn it off. So often, at night, I’ll write in a note book or if it’s winter, I’ll continue working on my laptop.

Q Are you a distracted father and husband when you’re working on a book?

A My family say that when I’m working on something like this, I can be. But mostly, I can’t be. I go every Thursday to my younger daughter’s violin lessons and I do all the talking to the mums at the pick-ups and drop-offs. I get distracted when I’m working, but I much prefer that people know me as Bridie’s dad rather than that Ian Bone who was in the paper. My dad was a shift worker so he was actually around during the day and worked at night, but he was always the one at home when we’d arrive from school and he’d get the meals, so I grew up with him as a role model.

Q How old are you?

A I was born in 1956, so I will be 46 in October.

Q Star sign?.

A Libran. But I don’t know if I’m typical because everyone says theyre indecisive and I’m the most decisive person I know.

Q Looking back on leaving the ABC to become a writer, that was a huge gamble, wasn’t it?

A It was enormous. Around the books that I write I do a lot of freelance work, Humphrey etc. And I always try to keep that sustained because I do have a family. I keep emphasizing that I couldn’t have done it without my partner. I just think I’m the luckiest person around.

Q Her regular income helped?

A Well, that too, yes, but to have someone who would say then if that’s your dream, then go for it. Her attitude was that we could make it happen. That was wonderful, because a bloke’s programmed to be responsible.

Q Were there lean times?

AOh hell, yes. I nearly gave it away twice. When I wasn’t getting published, there were times when the financial stuff was difficult, like we’ve learned how to stretch that noodle. But other times, especially earlier on when I was getting manuscripts rejected and I wasn’t getting what I wanted to happen in terms of a breakthrough in getting a book published, I thought, ‘I’m just wasting my time’. It was ‘93 when I started writing full time, but it wasn’t until ‘98 that my book Fat Boy was published. To me, that’s when I started to feel like it was really going to happen. There were about four years there when I just kept at it and at it and at it. I wasn’t starving, but it wasn’t happening. I set myself goals and I felt I’d failed in the sense that I hadn’t achieved them. So I had to overcome that sense that I’d failed. That I hadn’t done what I’d said I’d do, that I was wasting time. I had to continually struggle with that voice in my head for quite a long time. Since ‘98 I’ve had high success.

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Cross stitch overalls

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When stitching is complete, remove the basting, then pull out the waste canvas, thread by thread.

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Rachael Treasure q&a

Talented Tasmanian writer, Rachael Treasure, has set her debut novel, Jillaroo (Penguin, $19.95 ) in rural Australia. It is a funny, sexy, romantic and ultimately moving drama about a young woman named Rebecca, who makes her own way in the world after a terrible argument with her father. A family tragedy leads to redemption.

Q What did you set out to achieve with Jillaroo?

A I wanted to write something that would connect to city as well as rural people. To bridge the big gap that’s getting wider between the city and the country. And to put forward a strong female character that’s gritty enough for someone like me to like. A young woman who’s not too concerned about how she really looks or what her hair is doing at the time. My girlfriends and I get annoyed with some of the heroines in modern day TV – we like someone who’s gritty and real, like Rebecca.

Q Why do you think there is an ever widening gap between country and city people, and what made you notice it?

A It is reflected in media and popular culture, and it’s ever widening. We’re so multicultural now. And people don’t have the aunties and uncles who have farms any more, so they don’t visit the country like they once did. People are working longer hours and I think it gets harder and harder for people to get out of the city, too.

Q Where do you live in Tasmania?

A Fingal Valley in the north-east, one-and-a-half-hours out of Launceston, on my cousin’s farm. I do a bit of stock work. As well as writing, I also train working dogs. Right now, I’m handling dogs for the truffle harvest. I’m dog mad.

Q Are truffles a new crop in Tasmania and aren’t pigs traditionally used to sniff them out?

A Yes, the truffles have been six years coming. Traditionally, pigs are used, but they grow so huge and they’re difficult to transport- it’s too hard. Dogs are so much easier.

Q How do you give them a “whiff” of truffles?

AI train them with truffle oil. I’m training Chips, a springer spaniel. It’s funny, I’ve got three kelpies and a border collie, and they keep looking at Chips as if to say “you look so strange!”

Q I know you breed kelpies, how many dogs (at any one time) do you have there?

AWhen we have a litter, we could have up to 11 dogs.

Q You dedicated the book to your husband John and your dog Dougall, who died of a snake bite last year?

A Dougall was my soul mate – though my husband, John is, too. Dougall led me into dog training, he was an exceptional dog. When I was an ABC reporter, he was even interviewed on Triple JJJ! I was a rural reporter as well, so he’d come on air with me occasionally. He could talk and he was a champion high jumper as well – he could jump three metres. He was coming up for eight years old when he died. He would sit under my desk all day. He was a go everywhere dog. Dougall even went to the ABC studios in Melbourne to attend a Christmas party. He rode up in the glass lift and he met Tim Lane. Even though he was a good working dog – he was brilliant with sheep – Dougall was also a gentleman, he would charm the ladies.

QAnd he got bitten by a snake last year?

A We think, we’re not sure. We were shearing at the time and he was really sick, and we were about an hour-and-a-half from the vet. By the time I got him down there, it was too late, he went downhill quite quickly. And we didn’t notice he was sick. He was absolutely ballistic at work. So he’d cramp up at night, and we all thought he’d worked hard – we didn’t realise he was sick. If it hadn’t been shearing time, we would have noticed something was wrong. It’s one of those things I’ll never recover from. Farmers know you are blessed with one brilliant dog in life, and he was it. My other dogs are very talented, but I don’t have that soul mate any more. He was a border collie crossed with a kelpie. Border collies really connect with people.

Q It sounds like he had quite a vocabulary?

A I sat down and worked out the words Dougall understood and it was phenomenal. He knew hundreds of words or sounds, he was so intelligent. And they are so different to cats. My cat owns the place, whereas dogs are there for you.

QYour husband John is a farmer?

A He’s taken time off farming to study teaching. He’s doing human movement. He wants to work in rural schools part-time as a PE teacher and farm the rest of the time. John’s also a farrier, he shoes horses. If you’re on a small acreage you just don’t want to rely on farming for our income because it is the hardest road to go down. The prices you get for your product are so low and your costs are always rising, and if we want to look after the environment of our farm, we need extra cash to do that – it takes money to put in extra trees or protect your waterways or creeks. John loves kids, so he’s off to make a difference in rural schools.

John’s family run cattle in the high plains in Gippsland, Victoria. We go there three times a year, more if possible, to help. It’s one of the longest droving routes in Victoria. We take the cattle along the road. They run mostly Hereford cattle and we have a few breeding cows in amongst their herd. So we go up and help out. John is the fifth generation to be in the cattle business.

Q Do you come from a farming family, too?

A Both sides of my family are connected with farming. My grandfather was a farm labourer and rabbiter back in the 1930s, and hunted for skins such as wallaby etc. My mum’s grandfather was a farmer as well. I think I’m fourth generation Tasmanian. There were three daughters and mum’s land was all sold up because there were no sons. So I think that’s been an influence in the novel, the fact that girls don’t get the options.

Q I’ve always had the impression of rural Australia as being fairly conservative in their views on women and what they can do.

A It can be limiting for young women, but it’s changing. I started off in the shearing sheds and it was very rare that you found women there. I was working as a roustabout. Also, in my time as a journalist, I noticed that if I went to a meeting there would be very few women. Now, 10 years later, there’s women in the sheds – they’re often the best wool classers you can find because they are very sensitive in their touch and they can feel a good fleece when it comes through. Also, they’re pretty particular and fussy. There’s so many women active in agri-politics. So, farming women are really moving things forward.

Q Not like Charlie’s scone baking mother in the book– she really irritated me!

A That means the character really worked then! I don’t like to say I based her on anyone (laughing) in particular.

Q How long have you been married?

A Since February. It was a big wedding, but it was very country. I arrived in a ute, John on his horse and the bridesmaids brought our dogs. I was originally a “Smith”. Penguin were delighted when they heard my surname was going to be Treasure because it’s so much more interesting. And so I was teasing them that I’d have to sell my kelpies and get Maltese terriers and a chaise longue with a name like Rachael Treasure. I put aside my feminist ideology about changing names for my husband.

Q Was there any of your relationship with John in the Rebecca/Charlie one in the book?

A In my mind they live and breathe. They’re like my friends. My John is just as handsome and gorgeous as Charlie and muscly and looks good in a pair of Wranglers – he’s all that. Rebecca is a combination of myself and my good friends, but in a confused blend of fact and fiction.

Q How old are you?

A 33.

Q Is it mere coincidence that your book has been published in the Year of the Outback?

A I knew it was coming up, but I had no idea if people would pick up my work or not. I think Penguin had it in mind. Nothing is accidental in publishing. I knew it was coming up, but I didn’t know if I would secure a publisher fast enough.

Q How did you get published?

A People are going to be so annoyed with me, because it was the first publisher I sent it to, so I don’t know what it’s like to get a rejection slip. I sent the first four chapters. I had read a similar book called The Call Of the High Country by Toni Parsons, written by a much older writer, but again it was mountains and kelpies. And I knew that Penguin had published it – I researched my market pretty well. So from the outset of writing the book I wrote it with a market in mind, but that didn’t cramp my creative freedom.

Q Which market?

A The same as Toni Parson’s book. It did very well in the city, but it also appealed to country readers. So I wanted a book that a publisher could put forward to city people, that they could relate to and understand, and be inspired by. And I wanted something that rang true, so if you were a country person you’d say “oh yes, that’s me!”

As a journalist, I could be objective about my work and I know you are writing for a reader, it’s not just an inbuilt passion to write. You’ve got to accommodate all sorts of wide readership.

My first port of call was Penguin. I received a mentorship with the Tasmanian Writer’s Centre. Because I’d been through the mentorship process, Penguin said they don’t normally take unsolicited manuscripts, but because it had been vetted by an experienced writer, they wrote and asked for a full manuscript. They phoned within 10 days of receiving it and accepted it there and then. They knew it had wide appeal. Because Toni Parson’s book had gone well, they had some sort of benchmark. But I wanted to write something that was a little bit more for the younger crowd.

QI was amazed at the amount of drinking that the young characters in the book did.

A That’s something I’ve researched heavily throughout my adult life (laughing). It’s part and parcel of rural culture. I’ve been to an agricultural college and that initiation ceremony in the book is pretty well based on my experience. Part of our culture is based on drinking and it’s accepted. I think it’s the whole work hard, play hard mentality. At a B and S ball, you never see any other drugs. You never see the nasty drugs. While alcohol is still a drug, it’s a legal drug and they go for it.

Q The tortured father/daughter relationship was the book’s emotional core – along with the romance between Charlie and Rebecca. What was your own relationship with your father like?

A I’ve got one of the scariest fathers, but he’s the most supportive. When I say scary, he’s not a communicator, he’s not demonstrative. He’s not a hug, cuddle and kiss kind of dad. But he lets me class his wool, he lets me do his sheep work. He has really inspired me to take a path in agriculture. So, in that sense, I guess the lack of verbal communication is like the father in the book. Most of my friends come from farming families and a lot of rural men do find it hard to communicate. I think, too, that I discovered patterns when I was a journalist and I’d go and interview people. I’d sit at kitchen tables and it was the stuff they didn’t say that I’d pick up on.

Sorry, this is a long answer to your question, but nothing is black and white, is it? So my dad is very supportive. We are taking over his farm this year. He is retiring and we’ll be moving down there to southern Tasmania where he has a sheep farm and we’ll bring cattle.

Q Did you grow up on a farm?

A No, I grew up in Hobart, but it’s basically five minutes out of Hobart, so we went there at weekends. Dad’s a solicitor by trade, he came from a farming background. He became a solicitor so he’d have enough money to buy a farm, which he did in the 1980s, and he always had farming clients. His friend had a farm and we’d go there every weekend since I was born. I remember herding sheep and picking up sticks and rocks from the paddocks.

I spent every single weekend on the farm. It was a lovely blend between city and country. I’d do my schooling in the city and have my weekends on the farm. I can’t say I didn’t grow up on a farm because all of my memories have been at Runnymeade, the property we always visited. And that’s another aspect that has helped me with the novel – I’m streetwise enough to get around Melbourne. I’m not a huge country bumpkin in the sense that I never go and experience the city. I can relate to city people as well.

Q Life on the land is tough. What is it about it that makes you want to try to eke out a living like this?

A The animals. I just adore my animals, I have my dogs and my pet sheep and ducks, chooks. And I love the environment. The fact that you can go outside and you can look at a sunrise and a sunset and there’s no-one else around, and you can really connect and work out what’s real in life. You’re not bombarded with things like you are in the city. You are bombarded with so many messages to buy this or eat here or go there. Whereas the lifestyle of agriculture is if you’re content within yourself and you can connect to nature, then you have everything you need and I think that’s the attraction. And it’s the challenge. My cousin who owns this farm is absolutely dynamic. I mean, I can say he is a genius. He can build any sort of machinery you like.

Q Alongside writing and working on the farm, you also want to expand the business of dog training?

A I want to set up training facilities for working dogs. A lot of farmers, even though they have been farming for generations, have never learned the psychology of dogs. How they work. So that’s one of my passions as well.

Q How valuable is a good working dog?

A They’re worth a good workman. You’d pay a workman about $40,000 a year, so they’re worth their weight in gold. And they don’t complain as much and they don’t need super. They only need somewhere warm to sleep and some food.

Q Where were you born and do you have any brothers or sisters?

A In Hobart. I have one brother who is 18 months older. He is a computer expert.

Q What star sign are you?

A Sagittarian. Can’t you tell I’m kind of mad?

Q Did your mother work?

A Mum is a special-needs teacher.

Q What do you hope?

A That one day, Australian agriculture will become completely sustainable. We need to look after the environment or we’ll starve.

Q Favourite food?

A Lamb chops.

Q Did you have to retreat from everyday work to write Jillaroo?

A I went to a cattle station in Queensland so I could have some space and time to write. All up, I’ve been working on the book for two-and-a-half years.

Q What is the first thing you do each day?

A I feed the dogs and chooks and ducks.

Every day I do something towards my writing. I wrote a feature which is screening on SBS TV this year, called Albert’s Chook Tractor, and I am working on the second draft of a screenplay for a feature film called Bachelor and Spinsters.

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Baby cards

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August 2002 book reviews

Harrison by the Editors of Rolling Stone (Simon & Schuster $59.95)

This is the only book about the former Beatle, George Harrison, that has the full consent of the Harrison family and it’s a beauty. For fans of this legendary figure in pop culture, this is a detailed, intimate, beautifully put together celebration of his life and career. There are tributes from Mick Jagger (“We used to be drinking buddies”), Elton John (“He was the sage of the Beatles. He found something more than fame.”) and other rock luminaries, along with previously unseen photos from the personal family collection, a forward by his widow Olivia Harrison, a new essay, the stories behind the songs and news stories and interviews with the guitarist throughout Rolling Stone’s history.

A Perfect Obsession by Caro Fraser

(Michael Joseph $29.95)

Little known and vastly underestimated writer whose books breathe life into the legal world. But it’s what’s going on between everyone who works in chambers and the twist and turns of emotions, not the case work that turns this into a wickedly funny story of love and deceit, lust and longing. Read this and I bet you’ll want to track down the previous eight titles.

Coming Home by Maggie Hamilton

(Viking $29.95)

For those caught up in the madness of modern life, this book is about rediscovering inner peace and restoring balance. It is a daily guide which draws on Buddhism, Christianity and Native American beliefs with case studies, mantras and meditations.

Deadly Embrace by Jackie Collins

(Simon & Schuster $39.95)

Another fast moving, romance novel with a healthy dose of Hollywood, the mafia and steamy sex. The main character is involved in a siege, her father, who has been charged with the murder of her step-mother disappears and the half-sister she doesn’t know exists, is in terrible danger in a hotel room in Spain…and that’s just the first chapter!

The Oracle Book by George Routsis Savas

(Random House $29.95)

This is a form of bibliomancy – the answering of a question by means of randomly choosing a word or passage from a book. A handy do-it-yourself divination tool which brings together a wealth of predictions from a variety of ancient and modern divination techniques and reminds me of the days a group of friends and myself of Runes and a lot of fun we enjoyed with Runes.

Mt. Vernon Love Story by Mary Higgins Clark

(Simon & Schuster $36.95)

This biographical novel was the first published book by Mary Higgins Clark, otherwise known as America’s Queen of Suspense. Originally appearing as Aspire to the Heavens in 1969, it is a touching and sharply etched historical romance about one of America’s most famous couples, George and Martha Washington.

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Nutrient thieves

Here are some simple ways to make sure the vitamins in your food don’t go to waste.

  • Don’t boil vegetables for too long. The water leeches out vitamins B and C. Instead, lightly boil or steam them. An exception is carrots, which should be boiled very lightly in order to break down the cell walls, which makes it easier for your system to absorb the cancer-fighting beta-carotene they contain.

  • Don’t drink tea straight after dinner. It slows the absorption of minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Wait at least an hour after eating before putting the kettle on.

  • Don’t peel fruit. The skins are a valuable source of dietary fibre. Scrub fruit thoroughly and, wherever possible, eat the skin.

  • Store oils in a dark place. Sunlight destroys vitamin E, found in vegetable oil, which gives you energy and boosts your immune system. Instead of displaying them on a counter top, keep oils in a cold, dark place. If you buy in bulk, pour some oil into a small bottle for current use and keep the larger bottle somewhere dark.

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2002 magazine of the year!

It's official: The Australian Women's Weekly is Australia's Magazine Of The Year!

It’s official: The Australian Women’s Weekly is Australia’s Magazine Of The Year!

The Australian Women’s Weekly scooped the pool at the 2002 Magazine Publishers of Australia (MPA) Awards – the magazine world’s equivalent of the Oscars – which were held on Thursday, July 11, at Sydney’s Four Seasons Hotel.

The Australian Women’s Weekly won a total of five awards, including the gold trophy for Magazine of the Year, the General Excellence Award for General Interest/News and Editor of the Year.

Judges commented that The Weekly’s Editor, Deborah Thomas, had “done a fantastic job in turning The Weekly around”.

The Australian Women’s Weekly was also awarded two major advertising awards: Ad Trade Marketing Campaign of the Year and Best Use of the Magazine Environment for Advertising.

This year there were 77 finalists across 19 categories, judged by editors and publishers from Australia’s leading consumer magazine companies.

We would like to thank all our dedicated readers for their loyal support, and for helping us in our success.

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Sock doll

Use an old sock to make this charming soft doll – perfectly soft for newborn babies to grab and squeeze.

MATERIALS

Scissors

One child’s white sock (size 9-12)

Polyester fibre filling

White thread

Blue and pink stranded embroidery thread

50cm x 6mm ribbon

METHOD

STEP 1

Cut off the top of the sock, about 5cm above the heel. Cut this piece in half again, widthways. Cut the lower of these pieces in half again, lengthways to form the arms. The top section forms the hat, the foot forms the body. Push a small amount of the filling into the toe and work a row of running stitches around the sock to form the neck shaping. Tie the ends to secure the gathering.

STEP 2

Cut a 5cm slit down the shin in the remaining heel section of the sock. Starting at one side, stitch corresponding edges together with small hand stitches, stuffing the legs and body as you work. Keep working in this way until the whole body is filled and the stitching is complete.

STEP 3

Turn under, then stitch the raw edges of the arm pieces together, adding stuffing as you work. When the arms are complete, stitch one to each side of the body.

STEP 4

Work a row of running stitches around the cut edge of the hat piece. Gather up the stitches and secure by stitching through all layers three or four times. Cut nine lengths of blue embroidery thread. Make three plaits of varying lengths. Knot at each end. Repeat with pink thread. Stitch the plaits to the top of the hat. Work the eyes in satin stitch, using blue thread. Work the mouth in back-stitch with pink thread. Pull the hat over the doll’s head and tie a ribbon around its neck to finish.

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Mother and baby peg dolls

Our peg dolls are perfect to sell at fetes and fundraisers and children of all ages will enjoy making and personalising their dolls.

MATERIALS

(for each mother and baby doll)

Two wooden doll pegs, one large and one small (available at craft outlets)

Fabric scrap, for skirt (approx 6cm x 27cm)

Scrap of broderie anglaise edging, for shirt

Scraps of lace edging, for baby’s dress and bonnet

Pale pink chenille sticks

Small amounts of acrylic paint: skintone, black, blue and white

Red and brown felt-tipped pens

Small piece curly crepe wool for each doll’s hair

METHOD

MOTHER DOLL

Paint top of large peg with skintone paint. Paint base of peg black to resemble shoes. Paint whites of eyes. Allow to dry then make a blue dot in each eye. Draw nose with brown felt pen and mouth with red felt pen.

Take a 10cm piece of chenille stick and glue the centre of it to the centre back of the peg, just below the head. Using running stitch, gather skirt fabric along one long edge and tie it securely around centre of peg.

Gather lace for shirt along top edge in the same way. Tie it around the neck of the peg, using sewing thread and a knot to secure it in place.

If using broderie anglaise for the shirt, push the chenille stick through the holes at each side to make sleeves. If not using broderie anglaise, cut tiny holes for the sleeves, using scissors. Unroll and glue the hair onto the head of the doll and trim, as desired.

BABY DOLL

Paint head of doll with skintone paint. Add eyes and remaining features as for Mother Doll. Using running stitch, gather a small piece of lace along one long edge to form the baby’s bonnet. Pull it tight and tie it securely around the top of the peg. Glue the gathered edge to the top of the baby’s head.

Using running stitch, gather lace scraps for the baby’s dress along one long edge and tie it securely around the peg, just below the head. Secure in place with glue, if desired.

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Knitted boy and girl dolls

Destined to be favourite toys, these colourful knitted dolls make an ideal gift for a new baby or a child’s birthday.

METHOD

MATERIALS

Patons Tasman 8ply (100g balls):

C1 (navy for girl or red for boy): 1 ball

C2 (flesh for both): 1 ball

C3 (royal blue for both): 1 ball

C4 (white for both): 1 ball

C5 (red for girl or navy for boy): 1 ball

C6 (orange for both): 1 ball

One pair 3.75mm knitting needles

One 3.00mm crochet hook

Polyester fibre filling

50cm royal blue satin ribbon (for girl doll)

Pink and brown felt-tipped pens

MEASUREMENTS

Height (approx): 22cm.

ABBREVIATIONS

Beg: beginning; cm: centimetres;K: knit; P: purl; rem: remaining; rep: repeat; st/s: stitch/es; stocking st: 1 row knit, 1 row purl; tog: together.

TENSION

23.5 sts and 32 rows to 10cm over stocking st, using 3.75mm needles. Note: These toys have been designed to be worked on smaller needles at tighter tension than normally recommended. Correct tension is essential. If less sts, use smaller needles. If more sts, use bigger needles.

METHOD

GIRL DOLL

Body (beg at feet)

Using 3.75mm needles and C1, cast on 30 sts, marking centre of cast-on edge with a coloured thread.

1st row (wrong side). Purl.

2nd row. Inc knitways in each st to end … 60 sts.

Work 3 rows stocking st, beg with a purl row. Break off C1.

Using C2, work 4 rows stocking st.

Shape feet. Next row. K7, (K3tog) 6 times, K10 (K3tog) 6 times, K7 … 36 sts.

Work 13 rows stocking st, beg with a purl row, marking centre of last row with a coloured thread. Break off C2.

Work 20 rows stocking st in stripes of 2 rows each C3 and C4.

Shape shoulders. Next row. Using C3, K7, (K2tog) 3 times, K10, (K2tog) 3 times, K7 … 30 sts.

Work 1 row.

Break off C3 and C4.

Using C2, work 2 rows stocking st.

Shape head. Next row. K9, inc knitways in each of next 12 sts, K9 … 42 sts.

Work 21 rows stocking st, beg with a purl row.

Next row. K2tog to end … 21 sts.

Break off yarn leaving a long end, thread end through rem sts, do not draw up sts or fasten off, until required.

ARMS

Using 3.75mm needles and C2, cast on 8 sts.

1st row (wrong side). Purl.

2nd row. Inc knitways in each st to end … 16 sts.

Work 10 rows stocking st, beg with a purl row. Break off C2.

Next row. Using C3. Purl.

Next row. K5, inc knitways in each of next 6 sts, K5 … 22 sts.

Work 7 tows stocking st, beg with a purl row, in stripes of 2 rows each C4 and C3.

Next row. Using C3. (K2tog) 11 times … 11 sts.

Cast off purlways.

SKIRT

Using 3.75mm needles and C5, cast on 82 sts.

Work 15 rows stocking st.

16th row. P1, P2tog, P3tog, rep from to last st, P1 … 34 sts.

Cast off loosely.

COLLAR

Using 3.75mm needles and C4, cast on 33 sts.

Knit 3 rows garter st (1st row is wrong side).

Cast off knitways.

POCKETS (make 2)

Using 3.75mm needles and C3, cast on 6 sts.

1st row (wrong side). Knit.

Knit 8 rows garter st in stripes of 2 rows each C4 and C3.

Using C3, cast off knitways.

HAT

Using 3.75mm needles and C3, cast on 114 sts.

1st row (wrong side). Knit.

Work 4 rows stocking st, beg with a knit row.

6th row. K2tog all across … 57 sts.

7th row. Knit.

Work 8 rows stocking st, beg with a knit row.

Shape crown. 1st row. K1, K2tog, K5, rep from to end … 49 sts.

2nd and alt rows. Purl.

3rd row. K1, K2tog, K4, rep from to end … 41 sts.

5th row. K1, K2tog, K3, rep from to end … 33sts.

7th row. K1 K2tog, K2, rep from to end … 25 sts.

9th row. K1, K2tog, K1, rep from to end … 17sts.

11th row. K1, K2tog, rep from to end … 9sts.

Break off yarn, run end through rem sts, draw up tightly and fasten off.

TO MAKE UP

Using back-stitch, join body seam. Turn body through onto right side. Using a flat seam, sew cast-on edge of feet together, placing centre back seam to coloured thread at centre front. Sew inside leg seam, beg and ending at coloured threads and working through back and front tog, to form two legs.

Fill feet, legs, body and head firmly with polyester filling. Draw up length of yarn at top of head tightly and fasten off securely.

Using C1 double, sew straps to shoes as illustrated. Using back-stitch, join arm seams. Turn through to right side and fill lightly. Oversew top of sleeves and sew to body just below shoulder decreases.

With right side facing, using 3.00mm hook and C5, work 1 row double crochet evenly along cast-on edge of skirt. Sew pockets in position. Join centre back seam of skirt, then sew in position on body as illustrated.

Sew cast-on edge of collar to neck, leaving 2 sts free at centre front and centring collar at centre back neck.

Cut C6 into 26cm lengths. Using 3.00mm hook and 2 strands of C6 tog, fold yarn in half and draw loop through a stitch in 15th row of head, draw ends through this loop and pull tightly to form knot.

Rep in each stitch all along 15th row. Trim lengths to form fringe. Divide rem lengths in half and make two plaits, tying ribbon at ends.

Using back-stitch, join hat seam and sew hat in position. Using satin stitch and navy yarn, embroider eyes. Using straight stitch and red yarn, embroider mouth. Using pink felt-tipped pen, draw cheeks on face.

BOY DOLL

Work as for Girl Doll to **.

Work 7 rows stocking st, beg with a purl row.

Shape feet. Next row. K7 (K3tog) 6 times, K10 (K3tog) 6 times, K7 … 36 sts.

Work 3 rows stocking st, beg with a purl row. Break off C1.

Using C2, work 10 rows stocking st, marking centre of last row with a coloured thread. Break off C2.

Work 20 rows stocking st in stripes of 2 rows each C3 and C4.

Shape shoulders. Complete as for body of Girl Doll.

ARMS

Work as Arms of Girl Doll.

PANTS

Using 3.75mm needles and C5, cast on 60 sts.

1st row (wrong side). Knit.

Work 25 rows stocking st, beg with a knit row.

Next row. (P2tog) 6 times, P4, (P2tog) 14 times, P4, (P2tog) 6 times … 34 sts.

Cast off loosely knitways.

COLLARS AND POCKETS

Work as Collar and Pockets of Girl Doll.

HAT

Using 3.75mm needles and C5, cast on 57 sts.

1st row (wrong side). Knit.

Work 8 rows stocking st.

Shape crown. Complete as for hat of Girl Doll.

HAT PEAK

Using 3.00mm needles and C5, cast on 18 sts.

Knit 5 rows garter st (1st row is wrong side).

Next row. K2, K2tog, knit to last 4 sts, K2tog, K2.

Next row. Knit.

Rep last 2 rows twice more … 12 sts.

Cast off knitways.

TO MAKE UP

Make up as for Girl Doll, sewing pants in position instead of skirt and noting to stitch through centre of pants to form legs, as illustrated.

Using a flat seam, sew peak to hat before sewing hat in position.

For hair using 12cm lengths instead of 26cm and trim as illustrated.

Draw on freckles using brown felt-tipped pen.

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